RF Micro Devices Inc of Greensboro, NC, USA has unveiled 11 new amplifiers, of which six are gallium nitride (GaN)-based products to support the requirements of the new data over cable service interface specification (DOCSIS) 3.1. RFMD is showcasing its portfolio of CATV components in booth 2044 at the Society of Cable Television's (SCTE) Cable-Tec Expo in Denver (22-25 September).
RFMD’s DOCSIS 3.1 family includes 1.2GHz power amplifiers as both hybrids and multi-chip modules (MCMs) that use GaN high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) process technology and offer optimal linearity and output power while providing robust reliability. The newest addition to the product portfolio for DOCSIS 3.1 includes new power doubler amplifiers, push pull amplifiers, optical receivers, a reverse path amplifier, and a family of digital step attenuators. With the addition of these new products, RFMD now offers more than 25 products tailored for DOCSIS 3.1 applications.
RFMD’s downstream amplifiers operate at frequencies from 40MHz to 1.218GHz with extremely low distortion levels and typical input and output return loss of 20dB. The reverse path amplifiers work at up to 300MHz with high gain and highly integrated functions. RFMD says that its GaN technology offers the power density required to meet high-power CATV requirements. The firm has been shipping high-volume CATV GaN-based amplifiers for the past five years.
RFMD says that its GaN family allows cable operators and multi-system operators (MSOs) to easily upgrade existing CATV infrastructure to meet the power amplifier requirements of the new DOCSIS 3.1 standard, increasing effective downstream data rates from 160Mb/s to 10Gb/s and upstream data rates from 120Mb/s to 1Gb/s compared to DOCSIS 3.0. The firm adds that, due to the high output and gain benefits derived from its GaN amplifiers, cable operators can upgrade their existing equipment within current locations, saving both installation time and cost.
"We continue to expand our family of GaN products, providing cable operators and MSOs an easy, cost-effective upgrade path to DOCSIS 3.1 to extend the life of their existing networks,” says Gorden Cook, general manager of RFMD’s Power Broadband business unit. “RFMD remains the only company shipping GaN amplifiers for CATV in high volumes and in the device and MCM packages customers need today,” he adds.
