domingo, 30 de mayo de 2010

BAW filters enable 4G/3G hotspot connections for smartphones and laptops

May 26, 2010 | Jean-Pierre Joosting | 222900812
BAW filters enable 4G/3G hotspot connections for smartphones and laptopsIEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium 2010 — TriQuint Semiconductor has released a family of new highly-selective WiFi/WiMAX RF bulk acoustic wave (BAW) 4G filters. These BAW filters enable mobile devices to act as portable WLAN (WiFi) hotspots, and simultaneously connect directly to 4G WiMAX networks for broadband access up to 10 times faster than conventional 3G systems.
The company’s innovative filters give WLAN handsets, laptops and similar products fully-mobile, high-speed WiMAX access. Individuals can use 4G WiMAX to more quickly download movies, stream video or connect with interactive gaming. Wireless system operators including Sprint Clearwire offer 4G WiMAX devices and service across more than 20 markets in the US; there are over 550 WiMAX service areas worldwide. Mobile devices with TriQuint BAW filter technology like the Sierra Wireless AirCard® W801 Mobile Hotspot (available from Sprint as the Overdrive™ 3G/4G mobile hotspot) can provide WLAN access for up to 5 connected devices. Through the AirCard W801, users may also directly access 4G WiMAX networks with their WiFi-enabled smartphone or laptop. “The Sierra Wireless AirCard W801 Mobile Hotspot combines WiFi and WiMAX into a single device to allow users to connect multiple WiFi-equipped devices – such as phones, laptops, or ebook readers – to the internet over 4G broadband connections. Since WiMAX and WiFi are adjacent in the RF spectrum, TriQuint’s highly-selective filters reduce interference and let mobile devices that use both frequencies, like the AirCard W801 mobile hotspot, deliver dependable service,” said Evan Jones, Vice President of Engineering for Sierra Wireless. Remarking on the critical role played by filtering in the emerging 4G WiMAX market, TriQuint Vice President Brian Balut said that without highly-selective BAW devices a “personal hot spot” would interfere with itself, severing wireless connections or otherwise rendering them unusable. Personal hotspots such as those enabled by TriQuint BAW technology are expected by market analysts to create a new segment in the 3G/4G mobile broadband sector. Market watchers including Strategy Analytics have indicated that hotspot products should see increasing consumer demand. “The devices that opened this branch of the mobile hotspot market were 3G; 4G devices were more recently introduced, so this market is beginning to evolve,” remarked Chris Taylor, director, Strategy Analytics RF & Wireless Components. “Bringing 4G connections to existing 3G devices, and having the ability to access 4G by new generations of wireless and RF-enabled laptops could create an opportunity for rapid expansion; this expansion will help satisfy the growing consumer demand for faster wireless mobile broadband access.” WiMAX markets today include 52 areas in the US and Canada; there are 568 worldwide. WiMAX service areas are increasing quickly according to the WiMAX Forum®, an international trade group. This is especially true in areas where quality 3G service is absent, or service quality is declining because networks are not keeping pace with subscriber growth. By offering service up to 10 times faster than 3G, 4G WiMAX service growth will accelerate, predicts the Forum. Technical details TriQuint’s filter technology leadership is based on more than two decades of surface acoustic wave (SAW), temperature compensated (TC) SAW and bulk acoustic wave (BAW) innovation. SAW devices offer market-tested reliability for mobile and base station applications through 1.5 GHz. TriQuint integrated and discrete SAW devices have excelled in multiple mobile communications and broadband data markets based on their ability to offer cost-sensitive filter solutions while reducing insertion loss (greater filter efficiency) and providing the bandwidth and steepness (the ability to affect a precise signal area) that RF designers require. The BAW filters are designed for high performance at frequencies greater than 1.5 GHz. BAW technology is particularly adept at solving complex filter challenges such as enabling adjacent bands in the RF spectrum to function at the same time without interference. BAW’s ability to provide steep rolloff enables one filter to reject near-in interference while maintaining excellent, low loss performance. These high frequency WiMAX/WiFi filters are featured in bills of materials by today’s major WiMAX chipset reference designers including Sequans, Beceem and GCT. The filters exhibit extremely steep roll-off between passbands and rejection bands, which is the key performance factor for enabling devices that must simultaneously use WiFi and WiMAX signals. They include:
  • 885007 — 2.4 GHz ISM/WiFi passband filter with low loss and extreme steepness. The rejection band starts at the lower edge of the worldwide WiMAX/LTE band: 2496 MHz.
  • 885008 — 2.4 GHz ISM/WiFi ‘notch’ filter that rejects the WiFi band while maintaining low loss across the entire 2.496-2.69 GHz worldwide WiMAX/LTE band.
  • 885010 — 2.4 GHz ISM/WiFi/BT ‘notch’ filter that rejects the entire WiFi/BT band from 2.4 to 2.483 GHz, while passing the bands above and below this notch. This includes the WCS/WiBRO band (2.305-2.36 GHz) as well as the worldwide WiMAX/LTE band (2.496-2.69 GHz).
For further information: www.triquint.com.

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