News

12 November 2008

 

RFMD starts high-volume shipments of 2G transmit module for emerging market handsets

At its fourth annual Analyst Day in New York today, RF Micro Devices Inc of Greensboro, NC, USA said that it had started high-volume shipments of its RF3283CR, a GSM/GPRS transmit module (TxM) optimized for GSM900/DCS1800 (2G) handsets. The RF3283CR is designed to enhance the performance of system-on-chip (SoC) RF solutions, which integrate the cellular transceiver with the handset baseband.

Since 2G handsets represent the majority of volume in high-growth emerging markets and are increasingly manufactured using SoC RF solutions, the adoption of SoC solutions in 2G handsets increases the total addressable market for RFMD, which claims that the higher levels of functionality and systems-level knowledge in the firm's cellular front ends enhance SoC RF performance.

The RF3283CR contains a cellular power amplifier, a pHEMT antenna switch and harmonic filtering designed to reduce voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) pulling and enhance overall system performance. It also features RFMD’s TRP-enhanced PowerStar integrated power control technology, which reduces current variation by about 50% into non-ideal (3:1) loads (also known as antenna mismatch), easing handset implementation for OEMs seeking improved total radiated power (TRP) and specific absorption rate (SAR) performance. RFMD claims that the RF3283CR delivers best-in-class harmonic emissions and insertion loss performance (critical front-end parameters when mated with SoC solutions).

The RF3283CR delivers pin-to-pin compatibility with its high-volume predecessor, easing implementation and accelerating time-to-market of 2G handsets for handset development teams. RFMD expects sequential growth in shipments of the RF3283CR in the December and March quarters. It also expects to release multiple new products in support of SoC solutions in fiscal 2010 (from April 2009).

RFMD selected to support Samsung 3G handset platform

RFMD also said that two of its recently introduced WCDMA/HSDPA cellular front ends (the RF3267 and RF6266) have been selected by Samsung to support an upcoming high-volume 3G handset platform. The two new front ends are highly integrated, ultra-compact (3mm x 3mm x 0.9mm) standard market 3G products designed to support the needs of multi-band, multimode 3G handsets and smartphones.

“Our participation on this high-volume platform underscores our design momentum at Samsung and demonstrates our commitment to supporting their success across all major air interface standards,” says Eric Creviston, president of RFMD’s Cellular Products Group.

Used in combination, the RF3267 (Band 1) and RF6266 (Band 5 or 8) provide a compact solution for multi-band, multimode 3G handset designs targeting the North American or European Union (EU) markets, RFMD says.

As a result of the Samsung platform design win and based on multiple customer forecasts, RFMD expects volume shipments to start in the December quarter and increase significantly in 2009.

RFMD says that it is accelerating the introduction of new standard products to the open market and is targeting front-end market share gains at multiple accounts in the major 2G and 3G standards. It also expects to capture additional dollar content in 3G, as increasingly complex 3G multimode handsets require additional content, including duplexers, filters and front-end power management.

See related items:

RFMD broadens 3G portfolio with highly integrated WCDMA/HSDPA power amplifiers

Samsung selects RFMD PAs to support new 3G handsets

Search: RFMD Transmit module Samsung WCDMA/HSDPA front ends

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