After beginning volume production of its first bulk-CMOS radio frequency (RF) switch in 2008, Infineon Technologies AG of Munich, Germany has now reached an annual run-rate far exceeding 1 billion and a cumulative shipments of 5 billion RF bulk-CMOS switches.
“With its proven expertise and legacy in semiconductor manufacturing, Infineon became a preferred partner of all original equipment and design manufacturers and chipset distributors,” claims Philipp von Schierstaedt, VP & general manager for Radio Frequency Systems at Infineon.
Since the introduction of solid-state technology in the 1960s, design technologies for RF switches have fallen into two categories: electro-mechanical switches (MEMS) and solid-state switches. Low switching speed, weak repeatability and reliability exclude MEMS automatically from being an ideal candidate for 5G applications, says Infineon.
In the meanwhile, scientific efforts have furthered solid-state technology with several technology options. Compared with gallium arsenide (GaAs) and gallium nitride (GaN), transistor-to-transistor logic based on bulk-CMOS has provided the best integration capabilities, ultimately enabling space-constrained designs on printed circuit boards. Unlike other alternatives, bulk-CMOS wafer processing requires neither an extra oxide layer nor different materials, implying direct economic benefits.
In addition to the ever accelerating pace of the industry overall, the advent of 5G telecoms is placing great challenges on an array of technical parameters in the hands of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and and original design manufacturers (OMDs), says Infineon. The firm adds that it is developing more products that foster RF designers’ ambitions.
The electrical performance is proven by available samples of the next-generation bulk-CMOS RF switches (the new antenna swapping devices BGSX22G5A10 and BGSX33MA16). Volume production will start in late summer 2018.
