Peregrine antenna tuning switch chosen for LTE-A smartphone

Mr. Jeong, senior RF engineer at Pantech, comments: “When evaluating antenna tuning solutions, we found that Peregrine’s PE613010 delivered 1 dB better performance at the antenna compared to other switches on the market. This improvedperformance in antenna efficiency is critical in realizing the data throughput offered by new LTE-A networks while still delivering the battery life and reliability consumers expect. This, along with the device’s integration and small size made Peregrine’s antenna tuning switch an ideal choice for the Vega LTE-A.”

The Vega LTE-A uses Peregrine’s single-pole, single throw PE613010 antenna tuning switch to optimize antenna efficiency for higher overall performance. Based on Peregrine’s UltraCMOS technology with DuNE and HaRP enhancements, the antenna switch delivers the industry’s lowest on-resistance (Ron) of 1.2 Ohms from 700-2700MHz. This enables a 1dB improvement at the antenna, which translates to a 25% performance gain. As a result, the platform can support higher data throughput, increased battery life, and longer range for fewer dropped calls. The new antenna switch is supplied in a miniature 2 x 2 x 0.55 mm package that requires no external components, making it ideal for thinner form factor smartphones.

“The emergence of LTE-A networks places significant RF design challenges on handset manufacturers to deliver an optimal user experience despite supporting the ever increasing number of frequency bands and higher data throughput. The new PE613010 antenna tuning switch helps to solve these challenges, and as a result, has already been integrated into multiple 4G handsets. The feedback from customers has been very positive as Peregrine’s tuning solutions enable the performance gains required at the antenna for smartphones to support the full capabilities of LTE-A networks," commented Dylan Kelly, vice president of the mobile wireless solutions business unit at Peregrine Semiconductor.

The PE613010 antenna tuning switch features high RF power handling and ruggedness, while meeting challenging harmonic and linearity requirements of LTE-A with Peregrine’s HaRP technology. With single-pin low voltage CMOS control, all decoding and biasing is integrated on-chip and no external bypassing or filtering components are required. The PE613010 also features ESD tolerance of 2kV HBM on all pins, providing a monolithically integrated solution for tunable antennas.

Kelly added: “Peregrine is thrilled that Pantech chose our antenna tuning solution for the Vega LTE-A handset. Pantech’s new phone is an ideal platform to showcase the benefits of our antenna tuning solutions. The success of our device in delivering a 25% performance improvement at the antenna allows the new smartphone to support the full capability of LTE-A networks while bringing disruptive features like fingerprint recognition to market.”

Packaging, pricing & availability

The PE613010 antenna tuning switch is available now, in RoHS compliant, 10-lead QFN package measuring just 2 x 2 x 0.55 mm. Samples, volume-production quantities and pricing are available today, by contacting Peregrine.