Renesas Electronics Expands Satellite Communications Product Lineup

Launched commercial dual-beam active beamformer IC products

New F61xx ICs provide low-power, highly integrated solutions for phased array antennas in satellite communications, radar and point-to-point communication systems

TOKYO, Japan, December 2, 2021 - Renesas Electronics Corporation, a global supplier of semiconductor solutions, today announced the expansion of its mmWave LNA and Tx BFIC product lineup with the launch of three new dual-beam active beamformer IC products:

• F6121 for Ku-band satellite communications

• F6122 for Ka-band satellite communications

• F6123 for Ku-band radar and line-of-sight communications

The new IC has advantages over similar products in terms of power consumption, noise figure, compact size and ease of integration. It is a key enabler for the next generation of low-latency electronically scanned antennas and can be widely used in aeronautical communications (IFC), maritime, mobile satellite communications and low Earth orbit (LEO) ground terminals.

The new F61xx Rx product is the first commercial product with dual-beam capability, which can perform seamless "make-before-break" switching or multi-satellite, multi-orbit operation across the entire Ku and Ka satellite communication bands. The F61xx provides OEMs with flexibility in LNA selection and layout to improve noise figure and system G/T performance. Thanks to these advantages, this product has been used by major satellite communication solution providers and OEMs for half-duplex and full-duplex system designs, and is expected to start mass production in 2022.

“Our customers face three main challenges when moving from mechanical antennas to electronically scanned antennas: thermal management, integration size, and price/performance,” said Naveen Yanduru, Vice President of the RF Communications, Industrial and Communications Business Unit at Renesas Electronics Corporation. “The new dual-beam F61xx products deliver the cost-effectiveness, high efficiency, low noise, and compact size the industry needs for next-generation low-latency satellite communications, radar, and communications systems that will connect more users in more scenarios.”

About the New Satellite Communications Beamformer IC

The second generation F61xx dual beamformer ICs address the thermal, integration and cost challenges faced by designers as they transition from bulky mechanically scanned antennas to lighter, more compact active electronically scanned array antennas (AESAs). The new products reduce power consumption, increase on-chip beam state memory, enable dual-beam operation (can also be configured as a single beam, saving 40% power), and significantly improve RF performance, complementing the complete sub-6GHz RFIC product portfolio and the recently launched 5G mmWave product line.

The satellite communication beamformer IC is also part of Renesas Electronics' new Ku-band satellite communication system winning product portfolio, which also includes power management and timing products. Renesas has launched more than 250 "winning product portfolios" including complementary analog, power, timing, and embedded processor products to build easy-to-use architectures, simplify the design process, and help customers significantly reduce design risks for various applications.

Key Features of F61xx Products

Flexible support for dual/single beam, full/half duplex, single/dual polarization, and one-dimensional and two-dimensional array architectures, with superior power consumption and cascaded noise figure performance compared to similar products

Highly compact package size, grid area occupancy rate of <4% at Ku-band λ/2 wavelength; loose pitch FC-BGA package can reduce integration complexity and improve RF isolation.

Fast and flexible digital interface with on-chip beam state memory enables 100ns-level switching of low-latency antenna beams.

Availability

The F6121 Rx BFIC, as well as the F6921 LNA and F6521 Tx BFIC, are now in production and support half-duplex and full-duplex antenna designs for Ku-band LEO and GEO ground terminals. The F6121, F6122 and F6123 ICs are available now and are planned to be available to satellite communication and radar system designers in 2022.