News: Microelectronics
19 September 2022
Guerrilla RF moves first SOI product into production phase
Guerrilla RF Inc (GRF) of Greensboro, NC, USA – a provider of radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) and monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) for wireless applications – has started the production phase for its new GRF6402 digital step attenuator (DSA). After sampling and receiving positive validation from its strategic customer base, the firm is now ready to move forward with mass producing its first silicon-on-insulator (SOI) product, as it marks the expansion of its existing portfolio to now include state-of-the-art silicon from one of the industry’s premier semiconductor foundries.
“This marks an important milestone for Guerrilla RF as we launch an entirely new product line and technology platform,” says founder & CEO Ryan Pratt. “This industry-leading SOI technology enables us to expand Guerrilla RF’s catalog to include switches, step attenuators, variable-gain amplifiers, cores with complex bias control, and other similar products. We believe these new products will be key to driving accelerated growth in strategic markets like automotive telematics and 5G communications,” he adds.
“The GRF6402 is a prime example of how GRF utilized SOI to address the special needs of its customer base,” says Jim Ahne, VP of Automotive and 5G Products. “Our marketing, sales and engineering teams collaborated directly with select customers to define and design a drop-in-compatible DSA with a novel twist on the device’s serial controller,” he adds. “Our new Rapid Fire control scheme will lead to significant cost and performance enhancements for many TDD and fast-attack applications that require quick state toggling,” he believes.
By employing the Rapid Fire feature, the GRF6402 will reduce overall component count, directly leading to savings in footprint and ultimately cost, says Guerrilla RF.
Samples and evaluation boards for the GRF6402 are available now.
