RF transceiver supports multimode 3G/4G

The MB86L12A RF transceiver chip can be used in all types of cellphones, data cards or data communication modules, driving product life cycle decline and device size reduction. Simultaneous support for 3G and 4G interfaces allows the chip to be paired with either one or two baseband processor ICs as needed. The MB86L12A speeds up RF subsystem implementation with simplified layer-one programming and embedded intelligence, said the company. With this revolutionary approach, an engineer just needs to enter a single command stating the desired channel and power level.

Block Diagram of MB86L12A System Architecture

Nine primary inputs for Rx and five secondary inputs (Diversity Rx) support GSM (GSM850, EGSM900, DCS1800 and PCS1900), WCDMA (bands I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VIII, IX, X and XI) and LTE (FDD bands 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13 and 17, and TDD bands 38 and 40). The receiver also incorporates anti-aliasing filters, digital channel filters, digital gain control and high-dynamic-range ADCs. The compact transceiver module enables cellphone manufacturers to reduce component count, board space and bill of materials.

The transceiver features a high-level programming model for radio control using an open standard digital interface (3G and 4G DigRF/MIPI) that is compatible with a wide range of industry basebands, said Fujitsu.

The company obtained technology licensing and intellectual property for its semiconductor mobile phone RF transceiver products from Freescale in 2009, and purchased Freescale's RF department.

The transceiver features simplified timing and control via a MCU unit core and optional GPO ports available for non-SPI components. It comes in a 6.5 x 9 x 0.85mm Land Grid Array (LGA) package. The MB86L12A transceiver chip will be available in sample quantities by December.