Guerrilla RF rounds out its ¼W linear PA family with the GRF5521

The InGaP HBT amplifiers were designed for 5G/4G wireless infrastructure applications requiring exceptional native linearity over temperature extremes of -40°C to +85°C.

Spanning a frequency range of 2.11 to 2.17GHz, the GRF5521 is tuned to operate within the n1, n65, and n66 5G new radio (NR) bands. The device delivers 23.5dBm of linear power over the entire -40°C to +85°C temperature range while maintaining ACLR levels of better than -45dBc, IMD3 levels < -22dBm, EVM levels < 1% and PAE Efficiencies > 20% – all without the aid of supplemental linearisation schemes like digital pre-distortion (DPD).

The ability to beat the -45dBc ACLR performance metric without DPD is critical for cellular applications like residential and commercial repeaters/boosters, femtocells, picocells, and cable loss compensators associated with automotive ‘shark fin’ antennas. In each of these use cases, the sensitivity to cost, power and size constraints prohibits the use of elaborate linearisation techniques like DPD. Instead, designers must rely on the PA’s native linearity to meet the stringent emissions mask requirements imposed by 5G and 4G standards.

During the development of the GRF55xx series, Guerrilla RF consulted with its base of automotive and cellular repeater/booster customers to ensure the devices delivered the best blend of power and linearity, thus maximising the effective range and throughput for their cellular systems. Guerrilla RF also designed the family of devices to be fully footprint compatible, enabling its customer base to rapidly customise their designs for a myriad of cellular frequencies.

“The GRF5521 is the final variant in our series of mid-band ¼ W PAs which were tuned specifically for cellular bands residing within the 1.7 – 2.17GHz spectrum,” says Ryan Pratt, CEO and Founder of Guerrilla RF. “By the end of the year, we’ll have production-released products covering every major cellular band between 660 and 4200MHz. These linear PAs are extremely popular with our cellular booster/repeater and automotive customers, and we continue to see significant design wins queuing up for these devices as our customers pivot to cover additional bands of operation.”

Pricing and Availability

The GRF55xx family comes in pin-compatible 3 x 3mm, 16-pin QFN packages. Samples and evaluation boards are available for the GRF5521. Prices start at $1.55 (10,000-up, EXW USA).