ADI and Marvell Demonstrate Next-Generation 5G Massive MIMO Radio Frequency Unit Platform at MWC 2023

ADI and Marvell Demonstrate Next-Generation 5G Massive MIMO Radio Frequency Unit Platform at MWC 2023

Collaboration brings together industry-leading digital beamforming and transceiver chips to advance the adoption of advanced massive MIMO

Beijing, China — February 27, 2023 — Analog Devices, Inc., a global leading semiconductor company dedicated to bridging the physical and digital worlds to achieve breakthrough innovations in the intelligent edge, and Marvell Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: MRVL), a leader in data infrastructure semiconductor solutions, recently announced a new generation of 5G massive MIMO (mMIMO) reference design platform supporting open radio access networks (Open RAN). By combining ADI's latest RadioVerse® transceiver SoC with Marvell® OCTEON® 10 Fusion 5G baseband processor (the industry's first 5nm 5G digital beamforming solution), the time to market of advanced mMIMO radio units and products supporting O-RAN features is greatly improved, while reducing energy consumption by up to 40%, and reducing size and weight. The OCTEON 10 Fusion baseband processor also provides flexible L1 implementation and enables hardware and software reuse between RU (Radio Unit) and DU (Distributed Unit), thereby facilitating L1 segmentation among global operators in the coming years; the RadioVerse SoC provides rich digital RF front-end functions, including field-proven DPD (digital pre-distortion).

“As mMIMO radio functionality becomes increasingly complex, more specialized silicon solutions are required,” said Alex Jinsung Choi, chairman of the O-RAN Alliance . “The reference design created by ADI and Marvell enables advanced configurations that meet network operators’ high expectations for power efficiency and performance, helping to accelerate the O-RAN market for 5G mMIMO radio units.”

The combination of RadioVerse transceiver SoC and OCTEON 10 Fusion processor supports the entire signal chain with unparalleled RU system efficiency. The ADRV9040 RadioVerse transceiver SoC has many digital functions, including linearization algorithms that can improve power amplifier efficiency and performance, and digital channel filters that reduce interface rates. The OCTEON 10 Fusion 5G baseband processor comes with a specially optimized accelerator that can efficiently process complex beamforming algorithms. At the same time, the processor also has a dedicated processor for low PHY baseband, which can be set to a variety of O-RAN split 7.2x configurations.

“Infrastructure vendors face many challenges when developing O-RAN mMIMO radios, including access to optimized semiconductors,” said Joe Barry, vice president of marketing, systems and technology for ADI’s Communications and Cloud Business Unit . “The performance and efficiency of this platform ensures industry-leading technology is available to both established and emerging vendors.”

“Marvell is excited to collaborate with ADI to advance mMIMO radios to the next level,” said Will Chu, senior vice president of the Processor Business Unit at Marvell . “The Marvell OCTEON 10 Fusion 5G baseband processor combined with ADI’s leading RF transceiver technology provides OEMs with a 5G open radio unit reference design that extends the capabilities and performance of next-generation mMIMO beamforming at the lowest possible power.”

The reference design supports 32 transmit and receive antennas (32T32R), an operating bandwidth of 400MHz, an instantaneous bandwidth of 300MHz, and can be expanded to support 64T64R configurations. The OCTEON 10 Fusion 5G baseband processor and RadioVerse SoC take full advantage of hardware accelerators and industry-leading commercial RF and digital baseband process nodes (16nm and 5nm respectively), reducing energy consumption per bit by up to 40% compared to previous generation products. The platform supports Network Energy Saving (NES) mode for further power savings.

The platform will be demonstrated simultaneously at the ADI booth (Hall 2, No. 2B18) and the Marvell booth (Hall 2, No. 2F34) at Mobile World Congress.