20 February 2012

TriQuint launches TRITIUM Duo, smallest dual-band PA for 3G and 4G smartphones

RF front-end component maker and foundry services provider TriQuint Semiconductor Inc of Hillsboro, OR, USA has launched what it claims is the smallest dual-band power amplifier duplexer (PAD) for global 3G and 4G smartphones. The new TRITIUM Duo family combines two band-specific power amplifiers (PAs) and duplexers in a single compact module (that is smaller than a single-band PAD), effectively replacing up to 12 discrete components.

The TRITIUM Duo family includes three products handling different pairs of bands: the TQM6M6214 (bands 1 & 4, for USA, Europe, Africa & Asia); the TQM6M6218 (bands 1 & 8, for Europe, Africa & Asia); and the TQM6M6225 (bands 2 & 5, for North America).

“We’ve powered the world’s top smartphones with over a half billion of our single-band TRITIUM modules, and now the TRITIUM Duo is being evaluated by customers for use in next-generation smartphones,” says president & CEO Ralph Quinsey. “Our broad technology portfolio has enabled us to integrate two commonly used bands in one small footprint,” he adds. “Not only have we simplified the RF front-end for phone designers, we have also increased performance and flexibility.”

The TRITIUM Duo family shares a common 6mm x 4.5mm footprint, simpliyings design, speeding overall time to market, and giving designers the flexibility to support multi-band, multi-mode operations (mixing & matching popular band combinations across multiple platforms). Mobile device manufacturers can capitalize on the dramatic size reductions to include more features or larger batteries in thinner, lighter form factors with all the performance needed for CDMA, 3G, and 4G networks.

TriQuint says that benefits to mobile device vendors provided by its TRITIUM Duo family include:

• a quad-band solution (two TRITIUM Duos) with a footprint of ~50mm2 (half that of a comparable discrete solution);
• a lower parts count, reducing the bill of materials (BOMs) and improving manufacturing & supply chain efficiency; and
• performance optimized for each of its two bands (no switching is required after amplification – unlike configurable architectures).

The new dual-band TRITIUM Duo implements proprietary CuFlip technology to replace wire bonds with copper bumps, saving board real-estate and boosting system performance by eliminating noise-radiating wires. The copper bumps also dissipate heat better than traditional interconnect techniques, says TriQuint. The integrated flip-chip BiHEMT power amplifier die achieves what is claimed to be industry leading current consumption to provide maximum talk-time and thermal efficiency critical for smartphone applications.

The new TRITIUM Duo also employs a wafer-level packaging (WLP) technique to provide hermetic filter encapsulation for improved performance and a reduced size. In addition, the modules integrate high-performance bulk acoustic wave (BAW) and surface acoustic wave (SAW) duplexer capabilities.

TriQuint says that the dual-band TRITIUM Duo family brings a higher level of integration to its portfolio of PA-duplexer modules. Integrating both passive and active devices, TriQuint provides complete RF front-end solutions by integrating amplifiers, filters and switches. The TRITIUM Duo combines with TriQuint’s QUANTUM Tx family of transmit modules to offer a complete RF front-end solution for smartphones and other mobile devices.

TriQuint will showcase its mobile device platform solutions, including the new TRITIUM Duo family, at the GSMA Mobile World Congress 2012 in Barcelona, Spain (27 February – 1 March). The TRITIUM Duo is currently sampling, with volume production planned in June.

Tags: TriQuint PAs

Visit: www.triquint.com