Fifth-generation wireless communication systems aim to provide significantly increased data rates and capacity in the coming years for a growing number of users. Various new architectures have been under investigation to attempt to meet these 5G expectations. Multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) or multiple antenna technology, is one of those currently being developed for the 5G systems of the not-so-distant future.
With massive MIMO systems, large-scale antenna arrays are used to enable high data rate streams to a large number of users within the same frequency band on just one radio card.
To support massive MIMO, the number of channels per radio card needs to increase significantly compared to the typical 4G LTE cards. As you might expect, the number of components and power consumption of a MIMO radio card have the potential for significant growth. To keep massive MIMO radio cards manageable, a low-power consumption, high-performance unit cell with flexibility for various applications is very attractive.
Amplifiers have been important components for radio cards of various architectures. A versatile high-performance amplifier in combination with low-power consumption could be key to enabling the design of massive MIMO solutions for 5G wireless systems.
Sub-6 GHz system diagram with F0424 broadband amplifier
The high-gain broadband F042x RF amplifiers from Renesas provide high linearity and very low power consumption along with wide bandwidth coverage and low noise figures. Utilizing Renesas' proprietary Zero-Distortion™ technology, the F042x amps deliver 39 dBm of high output IP3 with only 70 mA of current consumption. In addition, the 1.5 dB noise figure at 2 GHz is the lowest among RF amplifiers with 39 dBm IP3 in silicon technologies. The broadband F0424 covers applications from 600 MHz to 4200 MHz (another variant covers 4000 ~ 6000 MHz). There is also the flexibility to further reduce power consumption with reduced OIP3.
With these features, the versatile F0424 could be crucial for various 5G wireless systems, as well as small cell wireless systems. Get more information including documentation, samples and evaluation boards at renesas.com/F0424.
You can see Renesas' entire portfolio of innovative RF solutions at renesas.com/RF.