Connectivity and power: New Qorvo provides more comprehensive solutions for the industry

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Connectivity and power: New Qorvo provides more comprehensive solutions for the industry [Copy link]

Matter was born to dissolve the ecological barriers of the Internet of Everything

The Internet of Things has made the interconnected life we once imagined gradually become a reality, but there are still huge barriers to effectively connecting tens of billions of devices. The emergence of the Matter standard has broken this situation.

As an active participant in Matter, Qorvo took the lead in creating products that meet Matter standards - QPG7015M and QPG6105. Then, based on the company's unique ConcurrentConnect, single-protocol and multi-protocol smart devices can be run simultaneously in a single home network, allowing the gateway to seamlessly switch between all standards and protocols in the home network, enabling more terminal devices based on different standards to be connected and controlled.

In addition, in antenna design, Qorvo uses antenna diversity to improve range and robustness.

Dash Kong, marketing manager at Qorvo, said: "When Matter becomes the mainstream connection for smart homes, it will break the ecological isolation and achieve true interconnection. In this case, for device manufacturers, the differentiation at the software layer will no longer exist, and the advantage of hardware will become the core of competition. This is exactly what Qorvo is good at. Our unique ConcurrentConnect technology and antenna design can help device manufacturers provide high performance while reducing development and maintenance costs. We also provide complete development support, including free open source code and paid development kits, which allow users to quickly prototype and save time."

UWB innovation accurately opens up the last 1 cm connection

As the demand for high-precision connections in the IoT world continues to escalate, UWB technology is gaining attention in more and more fields, mainly due to its five major advantages:
first, it has extremely high accuracy, which can achieve centimeter-level accuracy;

The second is reliability. It has strong capabilities in direct transmission identification of different objects and anti-multipath interference.

The third is real-time performance, with extremely short latency, reaching milliseconds, which is 50 times faster than the response time of GPS.

The fourth is ease of use. The implementation is relatively easy, the power consumption is relatively low, and it can be easily applied to various handheld products.

Finally, for security, UWB complies with the IEEE 802.15.4z standard. Anup Bhalla, principal engineer at Qorvo's Power Devices Division, said: "The launch of our 5.4 mΩ Gen4 SiC FET in a TOLL package is an important step in providing the industry with the best performing devices and a variety of device options, especially for customers working in industrial applications, who need this combination of flexibility and improved cost-effective power design."

Qorvo has been deeply involved in the UWB field for many years and has rich technical and manufacturing experience. The company's products have been widely used in more than 40 vertical markets, with a market share of up to 70%. Among them, smartphone positioning, car keyless entry and spatial audio technology based on UWB technology innovation are attracting more manufacturers to invest in research and development.

Marketing Manager Dash Kong said: "Through the acquisition of Decawave and its own technological accumulation, Qorvo has become a leader in the UWB field. The company's UWB products are supporting many well-known brands at home and abroad. In the future, combined with Qorvo's strong strength in the RF front end, it will also provide customers with IoT connection capabilities that are easier to develop and have more stable signals."

Strong advantages allow Qorvo to seamlessly enter the automotive field

In the past few years, automobiles have been transitioning toward electrification and intelligence. Qorvo, which has a deep accumulation of experience, has also successfully entered this market and played an important role in the design of Internet of Vehicles applications, providing system solutions with complete connectivity (including V2X and Wi-Fi).

James Huang, senior sales director of Qorvo's High Performance Products Division, said: "Initially, automotive electronics may be more about audio and video entertainment systems. With the development of automotive intelligence, cars are very likely to develop into a new interconnection platform after computers and mobile phones. Qorvo started with its own expertise in RF and combined it with multiple product lines acquired by the company. Qorvo has more product directions in automotive applications."

Relying on its own high-power HBT amplifier process, SAW and BAW filter technology, SOI design capabilities and industry control, as well as other technical and packaging and testing advantages, as well as a series of automotive-certified product experiences, Qorvo can provide the industry with highly integrated single-chip solutions to support the communication functions required for automotive scenarios. These devices can also provide protection throughout the entire life cycle of the vehicle.

The biggest challenge in the entire V2X design and deployment comes from the excessive interference caused by too many frequency bands, which requires the support of various filters, switches, amplifiers and other technologies. Qorvo's process advantage lies in the high degree of integration of these separate architectures and the integration of the entire single chip. With the transition from 4G to 5G, the demand for throughput increases, and automobiles as a type of terminal equipment also begin to require MIMO product design to improve its performance. When supporting multiple standards at the same time, Qorvo's advantages of high integration and non-interference in the package are fully reflected.

In the smart car market, Qorvo has also launched various applications for smart cockpits. The first is pressure sensors. The new touch method can reduce touch errors for users and bring a more intelligent experience. Qorvo's human-computer interactive touch method is more accurate and less misled by external factors, so the control of the car will be better. These applications will be reflected in steering wheels, car keys, doors, etc. Of course, our pressure sensors will also be used in other consumer products, including mobile phones, platforms, computers, headphones, etc. Intelligent and safe car body entry, cockpit biological detection, etc. will also become a new outbreak point for UWB. James Huang introduced. Another major application of Qorvo in automobiles is power supply. From electric vehicles, charging piles and in-cabin power applications, Qorvo has a relatively comprehensive product line.

"Qorvo's technology and product portfolio are uniquely positioned to support advanced automotive platforms. We can provide partners with high-quality AEC-certified products that meet customers' drive architectures and requirements. Qorvo is currently working with many automotive OEMs and tier 1 manufacturers to build a complete automotive ecosystem, and will further deepen its investment in the automotive sector in the future."

Unique SiC products play a unique role in high-voltage applications

SiC has been highly anticipated by the industry as the "ideal material" for power devices, especially in high-voltage applications, where SiC has incomparable advantages. Qorvo has also become an important promoter of SiC applications through the acquisition of UnitedSiC.

Sam Koh, sales director of the Silicon Carbide Division, introduced that at present, Qorvo's silicon carbide power devices mainly include two categories: 650V/1200V/1700V SiC Schottky diode product portfolio, and 650V/750V/1200V/1700V SiC FET product portfolio. Most of these products have automotive-grade AEC-Q101 certification, which can provide support for new energy vehicle-related research and development. It is worth mentioning that the company's latest 750V SiC FET device has the world's lowest on-resistance of 5.4 (mΩ), adopts TOLL packaging, and is based on a unique Cascode circuit structure (i.e., common source and common gate). The SiC JFET and Si MOSFET are packaged together in one device, which can give full play to the high efficiency advantages of wide bandgap switching technology and the simplified gate-level drive advantages of Si MOSFET.

Michael Zhou, senior application engineer of the Silicon Carbide Division, highlighted the advantages of Qorvo SiC products compared to other similar products. Qorvo's SiC products use Cascode structure, have the lowest on-resistance and excellent switching performance in the industry, and are compatible with silicon-based MOSFETs, IGBTs and SiC MOSFETs. In terms of design, these products use advanced wafer thinning processes and silver sintered core tube connections to achieve excellent thermal performance, and have built-in excellent body diodes with very low on-voltage drop and gate integrated ESD protection, which improves efficiency while providing safety protection.

These high-performance products deliver extreme efficiency and performance for applications such as EV chargers, DC-DC converters and electric drives, telecom/server power supplies, frequency converters and solar photovoltaic (PV) inverters.

Finally, Sam Koh concluded that Qorvo's SiC FET has four major differences:

First, it does not require a negative gate drive voltage, which can minimize the difficulty of transitioning from silicon to silicon carbide, save engineering component costs, and provide design flexibility;

Second, compared with SiC MOSFET, it has lower on-resistance and lower conduction loss, and also has faster switching speed and lower switching loss. Compared with silicon super junction MOSFET, SiC MOSFET has excellent technical performance. Although its cost is about 30-40% higher than Si-based products, it is still competitive in the market.

Third, Qorvo SiC has lower impedance and faster switching speed, which can help customers achieve higher efficiency and higher power density in their products. It can be easily upgraded using the same package, or it can use a smaller size and heat sink to reduce system costs.

Finally, compared to other competitors, due to the smaller size of SiC JFET under the same conditions, Qorvo can theoretically have 2-4 times more chips per wafer, with better SiC substrate utilization and higher manufacturing throughput.

From “Making the World a Better, More Connected World” in 2015 to “Connectivity and Power” today, Qorvo has been advancing with the times.

As an innovation leader, Qorvo is relying on its deep technical accumulation and strong product advantages, with the help of advanced radio frequency (RF), ultra-wideband (UWB), MEMs sensors, programmable power management, silicon carbide applications and Matter connection solutions to help customers calmly face the challenges of emerging application markets and quickly develop smarter, safer, more market-oriented and more differentiated products.