Freescale introduces 3G mobile phone RF subsystem, reducing board space by 70%

JasonYoo

Freescale introduces 3G mobile phone RF subsystem, reducing board space by 70% [Copy link]

Freescale Semiconductor has introduced a fourth-generation multimode 3G WCDMA/EDGE cellular radio frequency subsystem that reduces board space by 70 percent, providing handset manufacturers with design freedom to develop new 3G mobile phones in a compact form factor.

According to reports, subsystems usually require more than 100 components. Freescale's 3G WCDMA/EDGE dual-mode RF cellular subsystem for mobile phones takes up less than 649mm2 of board space, allowing customers to reduce the number of components to one-third. With this high level of integration, manufacturers can add features such as MP3 players, Bluetooth connectivity, digital cameras, DVB-H and GPS while reducing the size of the phone. In addition, consumers can expect to get one-third more talk and standby time than previous subsystems.

Will Strauss, president of Forward Concepts, said: "Customers throughout the mobile phone market are looking to develop mobile phones with the multimedia features that consumers demand. Freescale's products provide the industry's smallest 3G WCDMA/EDGE RF cellular subsystem, which is very attractive to these customers." Strauss said that the WCDMA/UMTS mobile phone market will grow 168% in 2005 to 45.6 million units.

"While other companies were still experimenting with early WCDMA RF subsystems, Freescale now has a fully mature, powerful fourth-generation solution," said Kent Heath, director of cellular products at Freescale's Wireless Products Group. "This paves the way for our customers to offer smaller, more affordable 3G handsets with longer talk time."

Freescale's RF subsystem supports WCDMA/EDGE, integrates a digital interface to the baseband processor to achieve industry-wide compatibility, and continues to support emerging standards such as DigRF. DigRF is a global standard for efficient physical interconnection between baseband and RF integrated circuits in digital cellular terminals. Earlier this year, Freescale launched the world's first fully DigRF-compliant wireless product for EDGE mobile phones. Freescale is one of the world's largest suppliers of RF transceivers for GSM/EDGE mobile phones and has been providing this solution since the creation of the WCDMA RF standard.

Freescale said customers are now beginning to deploy RF chipsets that integrate analog baseband, RF transponders, RF receivers, power amplifiers, power control and numerous traditionally passive components into four production-friendly packages. The RF subsystem is designed to receive and transmit voice and data for dual-mode 3G mobile phones and consists of the following components:

MMM6007: Triple-Band WCDMA Transceiver with Digital Interface
MMM6032: WCDMA Integrated Power Amplifier Module with Power Detection
MMM6000: Quad-Band GSM/EDGE Transceiver with DigRF
MMM6029: GSM/EDGE Integrated Power Amplifier Module with Power Control

These devices can be used in conjunction with Freescale's baseband processors as part of the i.300 Innovative Convergence platform solution. However, the RF subsystem with its digital interface also enables communication with other baseband processors. These combined products (MMM6007, MMM6032, MMM6000 and MMM6029) are currently sampling and are expected to be put into production in the third quarter of 2005.