Tiny dual-band RF transceiver supports WiMAX, Wi-Fi

Infineon Technologies released what it touts as industry's smallest, single-chip multi-mode dual-band CMOS RF transceiver for WiMAX and Wi-Fi applications in a 5-by-5mm?footprint.

The SMARTi WiMAX, which supports both IEEE 802.16e WiMAX and IEEE 802.11b/g WLAN in a single CMOS RF silicon chip, enables broadband wireless applications to incorporate value-added services beyond 3G, including high-speed data downloads, video sharing and VoIP. The chip also supports the entire spectrum of licensed WiMAX frequencies.

Taking advantage of Infineon's semi-BGA packaging technology, the SMARTi WiMAX is nearly fifty percent smaller than competing solutions and power consumption is fifty percent lower than the industry benchmark, the company said.

Reduced cost, size
By integrating all the necessary configurable baseband filters into the chip, SMARTi WiMAX cuts the BOM for handset manufacturers, Infineon said. Full support for multiple channel bandwidths from 3.5- to 20MHz, as well a wide range of reference clock frequencies allows the SMARTi WiMAX to interface with any standard WiMAX or Wi-Fi baseband on the market using the chip's standard analog I/Q and serial programming interfaces.

With its low noise figure, SMARTi WiMAX also helps reduce size and component count of a WiMAX front-end by eliminating the need for external low noise preamplifiers currently used in existing solutions. Supporting 64QAM, the SMARTi WIMAX supports LTE requirements as needed for upcoming 4G standards.

Sample quantities of SMARTi WiMAX are currently available followed by mass production in the 2H 2007.

- Gina Roos
eeProductCenter