Peregrine Semiconductor Corp of San Diego, CA, USA, a fabless provider of radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) based on silicon-on-sapphire (SOS), says that it is supplying the main antenna switch driving RF performance in Samsung’s Galaxy S4 LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) smartphone. The PE421280 MultiSwitch (launched at the end of July) was selected for its ability to support simultaneous multi-band operation of up to 14 frequency bands while delivering what is claimed to be exceptional linearity, insertion loss performance and small size.
The Galaxy S4 is touted as the first-ever implementation on the 4G LTE-A network. The LTE-A protocol uses carrier aggregation (the simultaneous reception of multiple frequency band) to improve data throughput. According to Samsung, a 3 minute download over 4G LTE would only take about 1 minute on 4G LTE-A.
“Peregrine’s MultiSwitch devices are designed specifically to solve the challenges of carrier aggregation as used in LTE-A platforms,” says Peregrine’s CEO Jim Cable. “Based on our UltraCMOS technology, the devices feature not only the linearity required for simultaneous, multi-band switching performance, but also the integration, low power, and manufacturability required of high-volume consumer applications.“
The PE421280 antenna switch features a combination of two SP7T (single-pole, seven-throw) switches in a single IC to support 14 different frequency bands including simultaneous multi-band operation. With HaRP technology enhancements, the PE421280 delivers high linearity with an IIP3 of +75dBm, as well as low insertion loss (0.35dB @ 900MHz; 0.45dB at 1900MHz) and high isolation (38dB at 698-2170MHz; 33dB at 2500-2690MHz). The switch also features what is claimed to be industry-leading 2fo and 3fo for LTE of less than -80dBm at 700MHz. High-linearity and high-isolation performance are critical to ensure that radio signals do not spill into other bands during multi-band operation, says Peregrine.
