Qorvo Inc of Greensboro, NC and Hillsboro, OR, USA, a provider of RF solutions for mobile, infrastructure and aerospace/defense applications, has announced several new high-performance RF filters that provide faster data throughput and longer battery life for next-generation 4G smartphones and other mobile devices. The latest additions to Qorvo's fast-growing line of premium filters leverage the firm's proprietary filter technologies to optimize efficient use of limited spectrum.
"The global transition to 4G is just beginning, and higher filter performance is a critical enabler in LTE and TD-LTE solutions," says Eric Creviston, president of Mobile Products. "Qorvo is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the growing need for highly specialized filtering solutions, given our filter technology leadership, broad product portfolio, systems-level expertise, and high-volume manufacturing scale," he reckons.
Industry analysts forecast robust demand for high-performance filters. "Smartphones with more LTE bands and carrier aggregation for higher data rates are pushing OEMs to use more high-performance RF filters and duplexers," says Christopher Taylor of Strategy Analytics. "We expect the total market for standard and premium RF filters in cellular devices to grow above 25% per year from 2014 to 2019," he adds.
Qorvo says that, as performance requirements tighten and RF complexity increases, its proprietary LowDrift and NoDrift filter technologies can solve the industry's most challenging LTE system and chipset problems. "LTE-Advanced will usher in more sophisticated carrier aggregation and MIMO techniques in the years ahead," says Glen Riley, general manager of Filter Solutions. "Qorvo is redefining filter performance in small form factors and achieving unmatched temperature stability to extend battery life, improve insertion loss, limit service disruptions and reduce dropped calls," he adds.
The five new filters are as follows:
the 1.1mm x 0.9mm x 0.5mm 885067 Wi-Fi/LTE coexistence filter with LowDrift BAW technology (for WLAN); the 1.8mm x 1.4mm x 0.73mm TQQ1007 LTE duplexer with LowDrift BAW technology (for band 7); the 2.0mm x 1.6mm x 0.73mm TQQ0041E LTE Tx/Rx filter with LowDrift BAW technology (for band 41); the 1.8mm x 1.4mm x 0.73mm TQQ0041T LTE Tx/Rx filter with LowDrift BAW technology (for band 41); and the 1.1 x 0.9 x 0.5mm 885075 LTE filter with LowDrift BAW technology (for band 40).
Three of the new filters (the 885067, TQQ0041E and 885075) are shipping in quantity, and the remaining two (the TQQ1007 and TQQ0041T) are expected to enter volume production in the March quarter.
Qorvo is presenting its expanding portfolio of high-performance RF solutions for smartphones, tablets, and other broadband mobile devices at the 2015 GSMA Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain (2-5 March).
