Connecting the World with 5G:

Qorvo Highlights the Essentials

®

A collection of the most compelling 5G articles, blogs,

videos, e-books and infographics from Qorvo.com
Feed Your Genius with More 5G

5 Points to 5G
Initial transition to 5G will only provide a modest data rate improvement

Fragmentation in ultra-high bands will produce regional handsets

First approaches to 5G implementation will differ and drive RF complexity

5G requires large increase in RF content

Additional RF content will drive larger form factors

Solving Higher Data Rates The Reality of 5G

and Increased Capacity We are currently witnessing a global rush to 5G. Nations, mobile operators
and handset manufacturers are all vying to be first in delivering the next
Standards Driven Downlink Data Rates

generation of cellular connectivity - or at least get in the game early.

Qorvo 5G Solutions Continue to Transform the World
19%
Worldwide, there are robust plans for rapid 5G deployment, especially
in regions where wide bandwidth provided by new 5G bands are able to
produce significantly higher data rates for consumers. Indeed, it is this
access to new radio (NR) bands, along with the re-farming of existing LTE
bands, that creates the greatest impact on data rates. Unlike the transition
from 3G to LTE, the change in underlying 5G specifications provides only a
modest data rate improvement. This may help to explain why, to facilitate
fruitful 5G deployment, countries are rapidly allocating new spectrum
in both of the new designated ranges: sub-6 GHz frequencies (FR1) and
millimeter wave (mmW) frequencies above 24 GHz (FR2). South Korea, 3G LTE 5G
Britain, Italy and Spain, among others, have raised billions of dollars in
spectrum auctions during 2018, and the U.S., China, Japan and Australia are expected to hold auctions and allocations in 2019.
Operators in many countries, including the U.S., plan to start rolling out 5G services in 2019. Several major handset makers have
already said they will produce 5G phones that support those services. Overall, these initiatives are driving toward widespread 5G
coverage in developed countries by 2021.

But the global drive to 5G doesn’t mean that we will see the emergence of global 5G handsets. In contrast to the situation with LTE, it
may not be feasible or cost-effective to build global 5G handsets that support roaming across 5G networks worldwide. Instead, 5G will
likely drive the handset market in the opposite direction - toward greater regionalization.

New 5G Bands
MHz 3300 3400 3500 3600 3700 3800 3900 4200

Standards 3GPP n78 3.3-3.8 GHz

Bands 5G n77 3.3-4.2 GHz

Korea

China

Japan
Country
Allocation
UK

EU

USA TBD

Qorvo connects the world. From the

wireless base station to the handset
and everything in between. Explore
our resources to find out how.

Videos
• Chalk Talk: 5G mmWave

5G
Front-End Technology
• 5G in 60: Video Series

eBooks
• 5G RF For Dummies
Connecting
Your World Brochures
• 5G Infrastructure Brochure
• 5 Points to 5G Brochure

Whitepapers Blogs

Block Published
Diagrams Articles

www.qorvo.com/5G
What is 5G?

5G is massively broadband 5G is wireless infrastructure

Reaching into frequencies never previously Using beam steering and high-power GaN,
thought of for mobile wireless — above based on the technologies in phased-array
3.4 GHz, and even to 30 GHz and beyond. antennas for defense.

5G is ultra efficient 5G is low-latency

For streaming data, taking full advantage For real-time connections enabling autonomous
of carrier aggregation and massive MIMO. vehicles and augmented/virtual reality.

5G is fixed wireless Qorvo is the standard setter –

participating in standards bodies and
Giving more choices to get 1 Gb/s connections partnering with wireless carriers –
to your home and business.
to define 5G RF for the future.

5G is the backbone
of the Internet of Things
Connecting more than a trillion devices to
the internet in the next 10 years.

5G Complements the
4G LTE Network
• 5G will start as an overlay of the 4G LTE network.

• The 5G radio specification (called 5G NR for “new

radio”) will have both non-standalone (NSA) and
standalone (SA) operation.

• NSA is an evolutionary step for carriers to offer

5G services without building out a 5G core
network, until they add the full SA 5G core later.

• Starting in 2019, 5G will encompass major

new capabilities.

qorvo.com 3
 Connecting the Uses of 5G
Qorvo connects RF for all 5G use cases — more than just cellular and Wi-Fi.

Enhanced Mobile Broadband

Capacity Enhancement
Qorvo: LTE-A, Pro, Extended Bands, Fixed Wireless mmW,
Beam Steering Infrastructure, Efficient FEMs

Gigabytes in a second

3D video - 4K screens
3D

Work & play in the cloud

Smart city cameras
Augmented reality

Voice
Industrial & vehicular automation
Mission critical broadband
Sensor NW
Sensor
Self driving car

Massive IoT Low Latency

Massive Connectivity Ultra-High Reliability & Low Latency
Qorvo: Ultra Low Power RF Connectivity, Qorvo: Massive MIMO, Carrier
ZigBee, Wi-Fi, Cat M, Thread Aggregation, Infrastructure

(Source: Qorvo, Inc., from ITU-R IMT 2020 requirements)

RF Communication Technologies By Use Case

5G will overlay the 4G LTE network in the coming years. The RF function, frequency band, power level and
other performance requirements determine which semiconductor technology is the best fit.

FUNCTION TECHNOLOGY ENABLING NETWORKS

Network Energy Efficiency,
Densification, Beamforming,
GaN, GaAs Increased Spectrum, mmWave
High Power Amplifier

Carrier Aggregation, Densification,

Massive MIMO, Fixed Wireless Access,
Beamforming, Increased Spectrum,
NB-IoT, mmWave
Amplifier GaN, GaAs, SOI, SiGe, Si

RF Response NB-IoT, Carrier Aggregation,

Densification, Massive MIMO,
to 4G & 5G Fixed Wireless Access,
Device-to-Device, mmW, Sub-6 GHz Only
RF Filter BAW, SAW

NB-IoT, Carrier Aggregation,

Densification, Massive MIMO,
RF Switches Fixed Wireless Access,
Device-to-Device, mmW, Sub-6 GHz Only
CMOS, Si, GaAs, GaN

4 qorvo.com
5G Fixed Wireless Access Array
and RF Front-End Trade-Offs
The vision of next-generation 5G networks is to Device-to-Device
deliver an order-of-magnitude improvement in Communications Automobile-to-Automobile
Communications
Densification
capacity, coverage and connectivity compared
Smart
to existing 4G networks, all at substantially
TM

Grid
lower cost per bit to carriers and consumers.
The many use cases and services enabled Smart Home Enhanced Mission Critical
Mobile Broadband
by 5G technology and networks are shown in Services
Fixed Wireless
Figure 1. In this first phase of 5G new radio Access
(NR) standardization, the primary focus has Massive Internet
Critical/Emergency
of Things
been on defining a radio access technology Broadcast on
Mobile Device
Services
(RAT) that takes advantage of new wideband
frequency allocations, both sub-6 GHz and Augmented Reality
& Virtual Reality
above 24 GHz, to achieve the huge peak
Smart Cities
throughputs and low latencies proposed by IoT Machine-to-Machine
the International Mobile Telecommunications Figure 1 5G use case.
vision for 2020 and beyond.

Mobile network operators are capitalizing on the improvements introduced by NR RAT, particularly in
the mmWave bands, to deliver gigabit fixed wireless access (FWA) services to houses, apartments and
businesses, in a fraction of the time and cost of traditional cable and fiber to the home installations. Carriers
are also using FWA as the testbed toward a truly mobile broadband experience. Not surprisingly, Verizon,
AT&T and other carriers are aggressively trialing FWA, with the goal of full commercialization in 2019.

In this article, we analyze the architecture, semiconductor technology and RF front-end (RFFE) design needed
to deliver these new mmWave FWA services. We discuss the link budget requirements and walk through an
example of suburban deployment. We address the traits and trade-offs of hybrid beamforming versus
all-digital beamforming for the base transceiver station (BTS) and analyze the semiconductor technology
and RFFE components that enable each. Finally, we discuss the design of a GaN-on-SiC front-end module
(FEM) designed specifically for the 5G FWA market.

FWA Deployment Canada United States Latin America Europe

27-29.5 GHz 27.5-28.35 GHz 25-29 GHz 24.25-27.5 GHz
A clear advantage of using mmWave is 37-38.6 GHz 31.8-33.4 GHz
38.6-40 GHz 40.5-43.5 GHz
the availability of underutilized contiguous
spectrum at low cost. These bands allow wide China South Korea Japan
component carrier bandwidths up to 400 MHz 24.25-27.5 GHz 26.5-29.5 GHz 27.5-29.1 GHz
37-43.5 GHz 37-40.5 GHz
and commercial BTSs are being designed with
carrier aggregation supporting up to 1.2 GHz of
instantaneous bandwidth. Customer premise
equipment (CPE) will support peak rates over
2 Gbps and come in several form factors: all outdoor, split-mount and all indoor desktop and dongle-type
units. Mobile-handset form factors will follow.

Global mmWave spectrum availability is shown in Figure 2. In the U.S., most trials are in the old block A LMDS
band between 27.5 and 28.35 GHz, but the plan-of-record of carriers is to deploy nationwide in the wider
39 GHz band, which is licensed on a larger economic area basis. These candidate bands have been assigned by
3GPP and, except for 28 GHz, are being harmonized globally by the International Telecommunications Union.

qorvo.com 5
 FWA describes a wireless connection between a Active Antenna System
centralized sectorized BTS and numerous fixed or
nomadic users (see Figure 3). Systems are being
designed to leverage existing tower sites and
support a low-cost, self-install CPE build-out. Both
are critical to keeping initial deployment investment Customer Premise
low while the business case for FWA is validated. Mobile Equipment
Equipment
Early deployments will be mostly outdoor-to-outdoor Customer Premise
Equipment
and use professional roof-level installations that
maximize range, ensure initial customer satisfaction Central Data
Edge
and allow time for BTS and CPE equipment to reach Data Center
Center

the needed cost and performance targets.

Large coverage is essential to the success of the

• Random Dallas Suburb
- 800 houses/km2 FWA business case. To illustrate this, consider a
- 500m ISD
- 9 cell sites suburban deployment with 800 homes/km2, as
- 23 sectors
- ~35 houses/sector shown in Figure 4. For BTS inter-site distance
• Capacity Per Sector
(ISD) of 500 m, we need at least 20 sectors,
- 35 houses/sector
- 5x oversubscription
each covering 35 houses from nine cell sites.
- 1 Gbps service Assuming 33 percent of the customers sign
- Capacity ~5 Gbps
up for 1 Gbps service and a 5x network over
• BTS Parameters
- Capacity ~5 Gbps subscription ratio, an average aggregate BTS
- 400 MHz BW
- QAM16 w/LDPC: 3bps/Hz capacity of 3 Gbps/sector is needed. This capacity
- 4 spatial streams/layers
is achieved with a 400 MHz bandwidth, assuming
• Business Case
- 33% take rate
an average spectral efficiency of 2 bps/Hz and
- $100/month for 1 Gbps SLA
- $14k/sector/year
four layers of spatial multiplexing. If customers
- $177k/sq-km/year pay $100 per month, the annual revenue will
be $280,000/km2/year. Of course, without
accounting for recurring costs, it is not clear FWA
is a good business, but we can conclude that as
ISD increases, the business case improves. To that end, carriers are driving equipment vendors to build BTS
and CPE equipment that operate up to regulatory limits to maximize coverage and profitability.

In the U.S., the Federal Communications Commission has defined very

high effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) limits for the 28 and
39 GHz bands, shown in Table 1. The challenge becomes building systems
that meet these targets within the cost, size, weight and power budgets
expected by carriers. Selecting the proper front-end architecture and RF
semiconductor technology are key to getting there.

FWA Link Budget

The standards community has been busy defining 100

Probability Pathloss is Less Than Abscissa (%)

500m ISD ~333 m Cell Range

the performance requirements and evaluating use

90
NEC
80 Pro Install Self Install CPE CATT
cases over a broad range of mmWave frequencies. 70
Qualcomm

The urban-macro scenario is the best representation

ZTE
Huawei
60
of a typical FWA deployment: having large ISD of 300 50
Samsung
Ericsson

to 500 m and providing large path-loss budgets that 40

Intel
China Telecom

overcome many of the propagation challenges at 30

mmWave frequencies. To understand the needed link 20

budget, consider a statistical path-loss simulation 10

using detailed large-scale channel models that account 0

-190 -180 -170 -160 -150 -140 -130 -120 -110 -100 -90
for non-line-of-site conditions and outdoor-to-indoor Path Loss (dB)
penetration,
6 like those defined by 3GPP.
qorvo.com Figure 5 Statistical path loss simulation for
urban-macro environment with 500 m ISD.

6 qorvo.com
 Figure 5 shows the result for a 500 m ISD urban-macro 75

Transmit EIRP (dBm)

environment performed by equipment vendors and 160 dB

70 165 dB
operators. For this simulation, 28 GHz channel models 170 dB
were used with 80 percent of the randomly dropped users 65

falling indoors and 20 percent outdoors. Of the indoor

users, 50 percent were subject to high penetration-loss 60
5 10 15 20 25 30 35

models and 50 percent lower loss. Long-term, carriers Receive G/NF (dB)

desire at least 80 percent of their potential users to be

self-installable to minimize more expensive professional
Figure 6 Transmit EIRP and receive G/NF vs. path-loss
roof-level installations. The distribution curve shows the for 1 Gbps edge-of-coverage throughput.
maximum system path loss to be 165 dB.

Closing the link depends on many variables, including transmit EIRP, receive antenna gain, receiver noise
figure (NF) and minimum edge-of-coverage throughput. To avoid overdesign of the cost-sensitive CPE
equipment and shift the burden toward the BTS, the link design begins at the CPE receiver and works
backward to arrive at the BTS transmitter requirements. In lieu of the conventional G/T (the ratio of antenna
gain to system noise temperature) figure-of-merit (FOM), we define a more convenient G/NF FOM: the peak
antenna gain (including beamforming gain) normalized by the NF of the receiver.

Figure 6 illustrates the required EIRP for the range of receive G/NF to overcome a targeted path loss
delivering an edge-of-coverage throughput of 1 Gbps, assuming the modulation spectral efficiency is
effectively 2 bps/Hz and demodulation SNR is 8 dB. From the graph, the BTS EIRP for a range of CPE
receiver’s G/NF can be determined. For example, 65 dBm BTS EIRP will be needed to sustain a 1 Gbps link
at 165 dB of path loss when the CPE receiver G/NF is ≥ 21 dBi.

256
30
Next, we consider the impact of receiver NF by
plotting the minimum number of array elements
# of Array Elements

192
needed to achieve G/NF of 21 dB (see Figure 7).
Total LNA Pdc (W)

20

128
We also plot the total low noise amplifier (LNA)
SiGe power consumption. By adjusting the axis range,
1.5 dB
64
10
we can overlap the two and see the impact NF
GaAs/GaN
has on array size, complexity and power. For
0
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
0
this example, each LNA consumes 40 mW, which
Noise Figure (dB) is typical for phased arrays. The NFs of RFFEs,
including the T/R switch losses, are shown
for 130 nm SiGe BiCMOS, 90 nm GaAs PHEMT
and 150 nm GaN HEMT at 30 GHz. The compound semiconductor technology provides ≥ 1.5 dB advantage,
translating to a 30 percent savings in array size, power and, ultimately, CPE cost.

To explore architecture trades that are key to technology selection and design of the RFFE components,
we start by understanding the antenna scanning requirements. We highlight the circuit density and
packaging impact for integrated, dual-polarization receive/transmit arrays. Finally, we investigate all-digital
beamforming and hybrid RF beamforming architectures and the requirements for each.

1D or 2D Scanning Suburban Landscape

Average house height ~ 10 m
15-25 m

The number of active channels in the array depends

on many things. Let’s start by first understanding the Urban Landscape
azimuth and elevation scanning requirements and
whether two-dimensional beamforming is required
for a typical FWA deployment or if a lower complexity,
one-dimensional (azimuth only) beamforming array is
sufficient. This decision impacts the power amplifier (PA).
Figure 8 shows two FWA deployment scenarios.
Figure 8 Array complexity depends on the scanning range
needed for the deployment: suburban (a) or urban (b).

qorvo.com 7
 Per-column Active Ant Per-element Active Ant
In the suburban deployment, the tower
heights range from 15 to 25 m and the cell
(a) (b) radius is 500 to 1000 m, with an average
house height of 10 m. Just as with traditional

1:4 Splitter
macro cellular systems, there is no need
for fully adaptive elevation scanning. The
elevation beam can be focused down
by corporately feeding several passive
antenna elements, as shown in Figure 9a.
• N-times fewer components • N-times more components This vertically stacked column of radiating
• N-times larger PA • N-times smaller PAs elements is designed to minimize radiation
• Higher feed losses • Lower feed losses
above the houses and fill in any nulls along
• Fixed elevation pattern • Elevation beam steering
the ground. Further, the gain pattern is
designed to increase at relatively the same
rate as the path loss. This provides more
uniform coverage for both near and far users. The nominal half-power beamwidth can be approximated as
102°/NANT and the array gain by 10log10(NANT) + 5 dBi. With passively combined antennas, the elevation
beam pattern is focused and the fixed antenna gain increases, as shown in Table 2. For the suburban FWA
deployment, a 13 to 26 degree beamwidth is sufficient, with the passively combined column array from four
to eight elements. In the urban scenario, however, the elevation scanning requirements are greater, and
systems will be limited to one or two passive elements.

Figure 9b illustrates the per-element active

array. Both the per-element and column-fed
array architectures have the same antenna
gain, but the column-fed array has a fixed
elevation beam pattern. The per-element
array supports wider scan angles but needs
4x as many PAs, phase shifters and variable
gain components for an antenna with four
elements. To achieve the same EIRP, the PA driving a column-fed array with four antennas will need to
provide at least 4x the output power, which can easily change the semiconductor selection. It is reasonable
to assume a suburban BTS will use antennas with 6 to 9 dB higher passive antenna gain compared to an
urban deployment. As a result, the phased array needs far fewer active channels to achieve the same EIRP,
significantly reducing active component count and integration complexity.

Array Front-End Density

Early mmWave FWA BTS designs used separate, single-polarization transmit and receive antenna arrays,
which allowed significantly more board area for components. These designs avoided the additional insertion
loss and linearity challenges of a T/R switch. However, a major architecture trend is integrated T/R, dual-
polarization arrays (see Figure 10), which is driving RFFE density. The key reason is spatial correlation.
Adaptive beamforming T Array R Array T/R Array Dual-Polarity T/R Array
performance depends on the
ability to calibrate the receive
and transmit arrays relative Isolation
10 cm > 40 dB
to one another. As such, it is
important to integrate the
transmit and receive channels
for both polarizations, so the
array shares a common set of
antenna elements and RF paths. 1:N Splitter 1:N Combiner
1:N Combiner/Splitter 1:N Combiner/Splitter
The net result is a requirement 2X the circuit density 1:N Combiner/Splitter

for the RFFE to have 4x the 4X the circuit density

circuit density of earlier systems. Integrated T/R and
Transitioning from separate arrays Integrated T/R
dual polarization

8 qorvo.com
At mmWave frequencies, the lattice spacing between phased-array elements becomes small, e.g., 3.75 mm
at 39 GHz. To minimize feed loss, it is important to locate the front-end components close to the radiating
elements. Therefore, it is necessary to shrink the RFFE footprint and integrate multiple functions, either
monolithically on the die or within the package, using a multi-chip module. Tiling all these functions in a small
area requires either very small PAs, requiring a many-fold increase in array size, or using high-power density
technologies like GaN. Further, it is critical to use a semiconductor technology that can withstand high junction
temperatures. The reliability of SiGe degrades rapidly above 150°C, but GaN on SiC is rated to 225°C. This 75°C
advantage in junction temperature has a large impact on the thermal design, especially for outdoor, passively-
cooled phased arrays.

All Digital vs. Hybrid Arrays

It was natural for BTS vendors to first explore extending the current, sub-6 GHz, all-digital beamforming,
massive MIMO platforms to mmWave. This preserves the basic architecture and the advanced signal processing
algorithms for beamformed spatial multiplexing. However, due to the dramatic increase in channel bandwidths
offered by mmWave and the need for many active channels, there is a valid concern that the power dissipation
and cost of such a system would be prohibitive. Therefore, vendors are exploring hybrid beamformed
architectures, which allows flexibility between the number of baseband channels and the number of active RF
channels. This approach better balances analog beamforming gain and baseband processing. The following
sections analyze the two architectures and discuss the RFFE approaches needed for each.

IRF B PF
B PF V GA Driver
Circul ator
JES D204
DVG A Hybrid 9W GaN P A
TGA2595 ator
14-bit 4.5 Gsps
RF-DAC IRF TQC9311 IQ Mixer90 B PF V GA Driver
GspsDU 9W GaN PA
14-bit 4.5 Gbps DUC DVG A DC Hybrid
RF-A 90 ° TQP 369180 Circulator
BPFBlock VGA
TQM 879026
DAC

IRF Driver
Digital Beamforming
DA
C

DU C ° LNA + IQ M ixer
14-bit 3 Gsps 990
0° Gain DVG A
DAC

DUC
DA

°A AF B PF
C
D204B

CIRF

Corp orat e Fe ed
V GA

Column-Antenna
B PF 90° B PF Driver
DAC

Circul ator
JESD204

DUC Hybrid TGA25959W GaN P A ator

D204B

DVG A
14-bit 4.5 Gsps
RF-DAC IRF TQC9311 Hybrid IQ DDC Mixer90 TQP 369180 B
B PF V GA
GA Driver

Corporate Feed
Driver

ADC
GspsDU PF Circul ator 90°
JESD204

DVGRF-A
A DCDC Hybrid 9W GaN
9W
TGA2595 GaN PAPA ator
Circulator
DVG A
RF-A 90 ° TQP 369180
D204B

14-bit 4.5
14-bit
RF-DAC 4.5 Gsps DUC IRF TQC9311
IRF VGA
GA
VVGA TQM
TQM 879026
879026 LNA + IQ
DAC

IRF Driver
Driver
DA

IQ Mixer990 BPF
PF Driver
JES

GspsDU B BPF LNA ++ IQ

IQ MMixer
C

°369180 Circul ator

JES D204

C DVG RF-A
A DC
14-bit
14-bitHybrid
3 Gsps
Hybrid
3 Gsps 0°° TQP Gain
Gain Block
Block 9W
9W
TGA2595 GaN
GaN P
PAA ator
Circulator LNA ixer
14-bit 4.5
4.5 Gsps
14-bitGsps Gsps DUC DVG A
RF-A DC
IRF TQC931114-bit 3 GspsIQ Mixer
90 TQP 369180 VVGA
GA TQM 879026
DVG
DVGAA LNA + IQMi xer
DAC

RF-DAC DUC 90
TQM 879026 BBPF
DA

PF
DAC

C IRF DVG A°°AAF Driver

Driver
DA

B PF
AF LNA ++ IQIQ MMixer
CC
JES

BPFBlock
JES D204B

3 Gs ps Gain LNAMi ixer

Corp orat e Fe ed
DU
DU RF-ADC DC Hybrid
A 14-bit Gsps 90 TQP369180 Gain Block TQM879026 9WDVGGaNAAPA Circulator xer

Column-Antenna
14-bit 4.5 Gbps DUC RF-A 90
090°
90° TQP 369180 DVG BBPF
DAC
DAC

DUC 9
A°°AAF VGA TQM 879026
DA

DUC PF
DAC

IRF Driver
Assuming large elevation scanning
DA
D204B

DD AF LNA + IQ Mixer
CC

BPFBlock
JESD204B

C
JES

14-bit °
14-bit 33 Gsps LNA + IQ M °ixer

Fe ed
DU C Gsps DDC 990 Gain
Gain Block DVG AA

Column-Antenna
Corp orat eFeed
ADC
AD

90 90 °
ADC

DDC 90°0° 90°

DVG BPF 90°
DAC
DAC

DUC AAF
C
DA

DUC RF-A DC DD C TQP 369180 B PF

D204B

°A AF
C
JESD204B
D204B

C LNA + IQ900°9°0°

Fe ed
TQM 879026
ADC

DDC
AD

90°

Column-Antenna
Corp orat eFeed
ADC

DDC 90° LNA + IQ M9ixer

C
DAC

DUC 14-bit
DC 3 Gsps C TQP Gain Block

Corporate
RF-A TQP 369180
D204B
JESD204B

TQM DVG A
TQM 879026 B PF LNA + IQMi xer
is not required for suburban FWA
ADC

90°
TQPA AF
DDC LNA + IQ 90°
M ixer

Corporate Feed
JES

ADC

RF-ADC RF-A
TQP36918014-bit
DC 3
14-bit Gs ps DDC
Gsps
3 Gsps 369180
Gain Block
90°

Corporate
RF-A DC TQM879026 TQP 369180 DVG
DVG A IQMi xer
JES D204B

A AF TQM879026
TQM 879026 A B
B PF
PF LNA ++ IQ
LNA
TQP A AF LNA + IQIQ M M ixer
JES

14-bit
DC 33 Gsps
Gsps DD LNA + IQ Mixer LNA + 90ixer
JES

14-bit 3 Gsps
RF-ADC RF-A Gain Block
14-bit
TQP369180 Gs ps DDC DVG A
TQM879026 Gain Block
369180
Gain Block DVG A Mi xer
ADC

TQM 879026 LNA + IQ

AD

AAF AAAF
AF BPF DVG A BBPF
PF Mi xer °0°
9 90 °
C

DD
DD C LNA + IQ Mixer LNA + IQ M9900ixer
and a well-designed, column
14-bit 3 Gsps
JES

14-bit 3 Gsps
RF-ADC Gs ps DDC
Gain Block
TQP369180 DVG A Gain Block
ADC

DDC
AD

TQM879026 DVG A Mi xer °°0°

9 0° 90
0°°
ADC
AD

9 9
BPF LNA + IQ Mixer B PF
CC

AAF DD
DD C A AF
14-bit 3 Gbps Gain Block
ADC

DVG A
ADC

DDC
AD

90909
90° °0°
9 9090°
ADC

DDC
AD

°0° °
BPF
CC

AAF DD CC
ADC
ADC

DDC
AD

DDC 90 9
90°°0° 90°

antenna provides gain of up to

C

C
ADC

DDC 90°

14 dBi, we start with a mmWave

BTS transceiver design
targeting an EIRP of 65 dBm
and compute the power consumption using off-the-shelf point-to-point microwave radio components that
have been available for years, including a high-power, 28 GHz GaN balanced amplifier. The multi-slat array
and transceiver are shown in Figure 11. Assuming circulator and feed-losses of 1.5 dB, the power at the
antenna port is 27 dBm. From the following equations, achieving 65 dBm EIRP requires 16 transceivers that,
combined, provide 12 dB of digital beamforming gain:

EIRP = GBF (dB) + GANT (dBi) +

The power consumption for each
PAVE_TOTAL (dBm) transceiver is shown in Figure 12.
The total power dissipation (PDISS)
EIRP = 10log10(NCOLUMNS) + at 80 percent transmit duty cycle
10log10(NPAS) + GANT + for all 16 slats will be 220 W per
PAVE/CHANNEL (dBm) polarization, and a dual-polarized
system will require 440 W. For all
Tx Total/Channel = 13 W Rx Total/Channel = 4 W
outdoor tower-top electronics, where
passive cooling is required, it is
Other: 0.5 Down-Converter/LNA: 0.8 challenging to thermally manage
RF-DAC: 1 more than 300 W from the RF
DVGA: 0.5 subsystem, suggesting an all-digital
Final PA:
beamforming architecture using
VGA: 1.2 RF-ADC:
8.8 2.2 today’s off-the-shelf components is
Driver: 1 DVGA: 0.9 impractical.

(a) (b) Figure 12 Power dissipation of the transmit (a)

Gain Block: 0.2 and receive (b) chains.

qorvo.com 9
 However, new GaN FEMs are on the horizon to help address
this. As shown in Figure 13, the GaN PAs integrated in the
FEM apply the tried-and-true Doherty efficiency-boosting

Corporate Feed
Transceiver
technique to mmWave. With Doherty PAs, digital pre-

Corporate Feed
Corporate Feed
distortion (DPD) is needed; however, the adjacent channel Transceiver

Corporate Feed
Transceiver
power ratio (ACPR) requirements defined for mmWave Transceiver

bands are significantly more relaxed, enabling a much

“lighter” DPD solution. The estimated power dissipation
of a 40 dBm PSAT, symmetric, multi-stage Doherty PA can
be reduced more than 50 percent. In the above system, (a)
this improvement alone drops the total PDISS below 300 40
Symmetric Doherty 27.5 to 29.5 GHz

W. Combined with power savings from next-generation 38

36

RF-sampling digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital 34

32

converters, advancement in mmWave CMOS transceivers 30

28

PAE (%)
and increased levels of small-signal integration, it will 26
24

not be long before we see more all-digital beamforming 22

20
solutions being deployed. 18
16
14
(b) 12
10
24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42

Output Power (dBm)

Hybrid Beamforming Figure 13 Integrated FEM with symmetric GaN Doherty PA and
switch-LNA (a) and PA performance from 27.5 to 29.5 GHz (b).

The basic block diagram for a hybrid beamforming active array is shown in Figure 14. Here, N baseband
channels are driving RF analog beamformers, which divide the signal M-ways and provide discrete phase
and amplitude control. FEMs drive each M-element subarray panel. The number of baseband paths and
subarray panels is determined by the minimum number of spatial streams or beams that are needed. The
number of beamformer branches and elements in each subarray panel is a function of the targeted EIRP and
G/NF. While a popular design ratio is to have one baseband path for every 16 to 64 active elements, it really
depends on the deployment scenario. For example, with a hot-spot small cell (or on the CPE terminal side),
a 1:16 ratio single panel is appropriate. A macro BTS would have two to four subarray panels with 64 active
elements, where each panel is dual-polarized, totaling four to eight baseband paths and 256 to 512 active
elements. The digital and analog beamforming work together, to maximize coverage or independently, to
provide spatially separated beams to multiple users.

Digital Mixed IF-RF RF Beamformer Front-Ends

Processing Signal Conversion

LO

DUC D/A
Subarray
Panel 1
Digital Beamformer

DDC A/D

N: Number of 1:M/N
Baseband Channels
M: N
DUC D/A

DDC A/D
Subarray
Panel N

CMOS
SiGe-BiCMOS
GaAs/GaN

There is an important trade unfolding, whether SiGe front-ends can provide sufficient output power and
efficiency to avoid the need for higher performance III-V technology like GaAs or GaN. With good packaging
and integration, both approaches can meet the tight antenna lattice-spacing requirements.

10 qorvo.com
Front-End Semiconductor Choices PA Power vs. Antenna Array Active Elements

The technology choice for the RFFE depends on the EIRP 50

EIRP = 65 dBm
35

45
and G/NF requirements of the system. Both are a function of

Average Tx Power per Element (dBm)

40 ƒ = 28 GHz 30
beamforming gain, which is a function of the array size. To /2 = 5.4 mm ƴ

Antenna Array Gain (dBi)

35 max = 90% e

illustrate this, Figure 15 shows the average PA power (PAVE) 30

GaN
25
4πemaxDarray2
per channel needed as a function of array size and antenna 25
Array Gain ≈
2
y
gain for a uniform rectangular array delivering 65 dBm 20 20
GaAs
EIRP. The graph is overlaid with an indication of the power 15

ranges best suited for each semiconductor technology. The 10 15

limits were set based on benchmarks of each technology, 5

SiGe
avoiding exotic power-combining or methods that degrade 0
32 64 96 128 256 512 1024
10

component reliability or efficiency. As array size gets large Number of Active Elements

(more than 512 active elements), the power per element

becomes small enough to allow SiGe, which can be integrated into the core beamformer RFIC. In contrast, by
using GaN for the front-end, the same EIRP can be achieved with 8 to 16x fewer channels.
110 40.0
Element Gain = 8 dBi EVM-8%

System Power Dissipation 100 EVM-6%

EVM-4%
35.0
GaN

Power Dissipated (W)

30.0

Pave/Channel (dBm)
90 Pave/ch

For an array delivering 64 dBm EIRP, Figure 16 shows 80

25.0

an analysis of the total PDISS of the beamformer plus 20.0

70
the front-end as a function of the number of active 15.0
2-stage
elements in each subarray panel. The PDISS is shown 60
GaAs 10.0

for several error vector magnitude (EVM) levels, since 50 SiGe 5.0
the EVM determines the power back-off and efficiency 40
3-stage
0.0
achieved by the front-end. We assume each beamformer
40
64

112
136
160
184
208
232
256
280
304
328
352
376
400
424
448
472
496
512
16

88

branch consumes 190 mW, which is the typical power Number of Active Channels
consumption of core beamformers in the market.
The system on the far right of the figure represents an
all-SiGe solution with 512 elements, with an output power
per element of 2 dBm and consuming approximately 100 W. Moving left, the number of elements decreases, the
PAVE per channel increases and PDISS is optimized to a point where beamforming gain starts to roll off sharply,
and the PDISS to maintain the EIRP rapidly increases. The small steps in the dissipation curves represent where
the front-end transitions from a single stage to two-stage and three-stage designs to provide sufficient gain. As
stages are added, the efficiency drops with the increase in power dissipation.

Designing to optimize system PDISS without regarding complexity or cost, an array of about 128 elements with a
two-stage, 14 dBm output PA (24 dBm P1dB) is the best choice. However, if we strive to optimize cost, complexity
and yield for a PDISS budget of under 100 W, the optimum selection is the range of 48 to 64 active channels using a
three-stage GaN PA with an average output power of 20 to 23 dBm, depending on the EVM target. The trends shown
in Figure 16 are less a function of PA efficiency and more a function of beamformer inefficiency. In other words,
the choice to increase array size 8x to allow an all-SiGe solution comes with a penalty, given that the input signal is
divided many more ways and requires linearly biased, power consuming devices to amplify the signal back up.

Cost Analysis

The cost of phased arrays include the RF components, printed circuit board material and the antennas
themselves. Using compound semiconductor front-ends allows an immediate 8x reduction in array size with
no increase in PDISS. Even with lower-cost printed antenna technology, this is a large saving in expensive
antenna-quality substrate material. Considering component cost, the current die cost per mm2 of 150 nm
GaN on SiC fabricated on 4-inch wafers is only 4.5x the cost of 8-inch 130 nm SiGe. As 6-inch GaN production
lines shift into high volume, the cost of GaN relative to SiGe drops to 3x. A summary of the assumptions and a
cost comparison of the relative raw die cost of the two technologies is shown in Table 3. Using a high-power
density compound semiconductor like GaN on 6-inch wafers can save up to 35 percent in the raw die cost
relative to an all-SiGe architecture. Even though the cost of silicon technologies is lower per device, the cost
of the complete system is significantly higher.
qorvo.com 11
 GaN Front-End
Modules
To validate the concept of a GaN FEM for mmWave
FWA arrays, Qorvo set out to design the highest power,
lowest NF FEM for the 37 to 40 GHz band. To support
the trend to integrated transmit/receive arrays, the
front-end includes a PA, integrated T/R switch and a low
NF LNA. The module was designed with sufficient gain
to be driven by core beamformer RFICs, which have a
typical drive level of 2 dBm. The FEM’s PAVE of 23 dBm
was selected from an analysis similar to that shown in
Figure 16, and the PSAT was determined by analyzing the
needed headroom to support a back-off linearity of ≥ 33
dBc ACPR, EVM ≤ 4 percent and a 400 MHz orthogonal
frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) waveform.

A key design decision was determining if GaAs or GaN

or a combination of both were needed. The die size for
a GaAs PA would not allow the FEM to meet the tight
3.75 mm lattice spacing at 39 GHz. The equivalent output power GaN PA
is 4x smaller with no sacrifice in gain and a slight benefit in efficiency.
Considering the LNA, the 90 nm GaAs PHEMT process was favored due to its
slightly superior NF. However, the net improvement was only a few tenths
of a dB once the additional bond wires and 50 Ω matching networks were
considered. The trade-off analysis concluded it was better to stay with a 1875 um
monolithic GaN design that allowed co-matching of the PA, LNA and T/R
switch. Such a design was lower risk, easier to assemble and test, and the
MMIC was as compact as possible. The system thermal analysis indicated
that the higher junction temperature offered by GaN-on-SiC was critical for
2700 um
passively-cooled arrays.

As shown in Figure 17, the 39 GHz FEM integrates two of the multi-function
GaN MMICs into an air-cavity, embedded heat-slug, surface-mount package,
sized to meet the array element spacing at 39 GHz. Each of the GaN MMICs LNA
Rx1
contains a three-stage linear PA, three-stage LNA and a low-loss, high- SW

linearity SPDT switch. The FEM covers 37.1 to 40.5 GHz and provides ANT1
PA
23 dBm average output power, which supports 256-QAM EVM levels, Tx1
with 24 dB transmit gain. In receive mode, the NF is 4.1 dB, and receive 6 mm
gain is 16 dB. The package size is 4.5 mm × 6.0 mm × 1.8 mm. LNA
Rx2
SW
ANT2

Summary
PA
Tx2

FWA is rapidly approaching commercialization. This is due to the

abundance of low-cost spectrum, early regulatory and standards work 4.5 mm
and the opportunity for operators to quickly tap a new market. The
remaining challenge is the availability of equipment capable of closing
the link at a reasonable cost. Both hybrid beamforming and all-digital
beamforming architectures are being explored. These architectures
capitalize on the respective strengths of commercial semiconductor
QPF4005
processes. The use of GaN front-ends in either approach provides
operators and manufacturers a pathway to achieving high EIRP targets
while minimizing cost, complexity, size and power dissipation. To prove the
feasibility, Qorvo has developed a 39 GHz FEM based on a highly integrated
GaN-on-SiC T/R MMIC and is developing similar FEMs for other millimeter
wave frequency bands proposed for 5G systems.

12 qorvo.com
What’s Best?
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) or 5G?
Every time a new cellular phone standard comes out, we see
new claims about the “end of Wi-Fi.” When 3G was announced,
the promise was that it would make Wi‑Fi (802.11b) redundant,
which clearly turned out to be incorrect. With 4G (LTE), this
story repeated itself and claimed it would put Wi‑Fi (802.11ac)
in the shredder. And now the 5G message is that it will cover
both the inside and outside of homes and buildings. It’s almost
as though Wi‑Fi will soon no longer be needed.

This begs the question: What will be the impact of the next
generation of Wi‑Fi, Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)? Do we even need it in
the 5G/wireless landscape? We need better questions.

Beyond the Hype

Of course, some of the messaging around 5G is just typical marketing hype, showcasing the favorable points and
ignoring the less favorable ones. For example, 5G with 4 Gbps will be faster than Wi‑Fi (.11ac) with 1.3 Gbps. The
immediate counter argument is that Wi‑Fi (.11ax) with 9.6 Gbps will be faster than 5G. But will these speeds be
achieved in real life? We’ve seen this before, these glossy promises of high-speed access being wiped away by
the hard truth of “no connection in the basement,” or something similar. Cue the collective consumer yawn.

(And by the way, how good will 9.6 Gbps Wi‑Fi be in the basement, if the connection to the home is 300 Mbps, or
even less? What problem is this solving?)

If we want a real sense of where the developments are heading, it’s probably a good idea to go a little deeper
than marketing headlines. What are the real facts that can guide us? For starters, laws of physics tell us that
radio waves (both Wi‑Fi and 5G) have difficulties penetrating objects such as walls and foliage, and their data
rates decrease with distance. Radiating more power helps a little, but it also causes unwanted noise, making
equipment more expensive. In addition, there are legal maximum output power ratings to adhere to.

There are also economic laws. Cellular (3G/4G/5G) uses licensed bands. Mobile operators (service providers)
pay money to use this spectrum and need to roll out a network of (connected) base stations to cover a large
area. They then need to recover this money with subscription fees. In such a service area, many users need to
be served, sharing the same frequency band over multiple channels.

In contrast, Wi‑Fi uses unlicensed spectrum, which is available to all for free. However, the output power is
very low, so the radio signal (more or less) stays in your own house or building and has a favorable (so-called)
spectral reuse. The same frequency band can be used in every house. However, to get the internet at your front
door, you need to pay an internet service provider a subscription fee, including a simple router that is part of that
fee. If you want, you can buy a more expensive router as well.

So, in this frequency band perspective, there’s an interesting technology split between Wi‑Fi and 5G, but do
customers really care? Customers care about fast internet access — anywhere — at a decent price. In contrast,
operators/providers care about providing good internet service everywhere (at home and around the home)
and keeping costs under control. Interestingly enough, with so-called Wi-Fi off-load (where a cellular network
off-loads traffic to Wi-Fi connections), the border between the two different technologies is already blurring.

qorvo.com 13
 A Bit of History Can Be Helpful

It’s interesting to note that the Wi‑Fi world is rooted in the

commercial computer industry, while 5G is rooted in the
more legislated telephone industry. So, telephone operators
(now service providers) have more affinity with 5G than
with Wi‑Fi. When most telephone operators started to
deliver internet to consumers, it was delivery to the front
door. What happened inside the house was the consumer’s
Distributed Wi-Fi for the Smart Home
responsibility.

There’s
Motivating another
Drivers distinction between cellular and Wi‑Fi: a
Variety of Stakeholders
mobile
Smart home
enablement phone uses
Capacity
expansion a service
Business Model subscription that
Service
providers requires
Distributed
Retailers a Wi-Fi for the
SIM card. This SIM card ensures that phones are connected
to subscriptions andDifferent don’t useandthe
applications network illegally. But
use cases:

Motivating Drivers
Wi‑Fi doesn’t need a SIM card; the frequency band is license-free. Not surprisingly, the mobile world is
Smart home
looking for ways to make the SIM card redundant, but initiatives like soft SIM and eSIM aren’t making the
Capacity
Increase quality
of service
More users,
more sensors
End users
enablement expansion
Manufacturers Business Mode
desired progress because they’re too cumbersome and/or are not sufficiently secure.
Different applications and use c

The consequence of these histories is that the consumer’s internet connectivity

IoT Technologies Everywhere world
in the isHomesplit into two parts:
A “pod in every room“ carrying all IoT communication technologies
mobile (with a subscription and SIM) and stationary (with a router at home).
802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax/ad
This scenario isof service
now well-
Increase quality More users,
more sensors
Computing and consumer
established. Of course, wireless internet connectivity can be troublesome, HD/4K video, screenand initially
monitoring,
temperature and light
telephone
electronics
the house
devices all over operators
management
used this hassle as an opportunity to promote cellular as an alternative for Wi‑Fi. The good news is this
IoT Technologies Everywher
mentality is changing. A “pod in every room“ carrying all IoT comm
Distributed Wi-Fi for the Smart Home
802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax/ad

Cable operators have also entered the picture. They’ve found that, forofmany consumers, Wi‑Fi coverage inHD/4K the video, screen monitoring, Smart router/gateway
Nerve center connected home/local cloud temperature and light
management
Motivating Drivers Variety of monitoring
Stakeholders
home was a major concern. Cable operators responded by extending Smart
their
locks, video
and security service to include
systems smart machinesgood coverage
Appliances, sensors
and things Smart home Capacity Service
inside the home. This is forcing cellular operators to do Business Model
the same, as well as to develop a better quality of enablement expansion providers Retailers

wireless indoor internet service. Smart router/gateway Different applications and use cases:
Nerve center of connected home/local cloud

Smart locks, video monitoring

Increase quality More users, End users Manufacturers and security systems
of service more sensors

Wi‑Fi 6 (IEEE 802.11ax) Benefits

IoT Technologies Everywhere in the Home Benefits
Professionals End-Users
A “pod in every room“ carrying all IoT communication technologies No video
Future proof
solution buffering
802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax/ad Computing and consumer

Distributed Wi-Fi for the Smart Home HD/4K video, screen monitoring,
temperature
management
and light
Leverage Wi-Fi
backhaul for
electronics devices all over
the house
Increase
customer No dead High data
multiple standards satisfaction MU-MIMO*
spots Connected traffic Benefits
Reduce Reduce cost of
Motivating Drivers Variety of Stakeholders truck rolls manufacturing Voice
Professionals
Multiple smart interaction/ Future proof
Smart home Capacity Service Smart router/gateway
home use cases control solution
enablement expansion Business Model providers Retailers Nerve center of connected home/local cloud
Reduce
Smart locks, video monitoring
service calls Appliances, sensors
and security systems smart machines Leverage Wi-Fi
backhaul for Increase
and things customer
multiple standards No d
Different applications and use cases: satisfaction sp
*Multi-user, mutiple input multiple output
QORVO is a registered trademark of Qorvo, Inc. in the U.S. and in other countries.
www.qorvo.com/distributed-wifi
Reduce Reduce cost of
truck rolls manufacturing
Increase quality More users, End users Manufacturers Multiple
of service more sensors home use

Reduce
service calls

BetterA “pod
coverage
IoT Technologiesinside Everywhere the home
in the Home is one of the key characteristics
in every room“ carrying all IoT communication technologies
Benefits of the new generation of Wi‑Fi, now called *Multi-user, mutiple input multiple output

Wi-Fi 6 (based on the IEEE 802.11ax standard). The distributed concept behind this new version of the Wi-Fi
Professionals End-Users QORVO is a registered trademark of Qorvo, Inc. in the U.S. and in other countries.

Future proof No video

802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax/ad Computing and consumer buffering
solution

standard (also called Wi‑Fi mesh) helps to distribute internet to every room in the home, with the main router
HD/4K video, screen monitoring, electronics devices all over
temperature and light the house
management Leverage Wi-Fi
Increase

at the front door, and small satellite routers (also known as repeaters) on every floor and in every room. This
backhaul for customer
multiple standards No dead High data
satisfaction spots
MU-MIMO*
Connected traffic

enables internet service providers to sell and support solid internet connectivity everywhere in the home —
Reduce Reduce cost of
truck rolls manufacturing Voice
Multiple smart interaction/
home use cases control
all good news! Smart router/gateway
Nerve center of connected home/local cloud Reduce
service calls
Smart locks, video monitoring Appliances, sensors
and security systems smart machines
and things

There are also interesting crossover products, though, and a nice example is the FRITZ!Box 6890 from German
*Multi-user, mutiple input multiple output
QORVO is a registered trademark of Qorvo, Inc. in the U.S. and in other countries.
www.qorvo.com/distributed-wifi

supplier AVM. This box is a traditional router, providing Wi‑Fi everywhere in the home. But it doesn’t use DSL,
fiber or cable — it uses LTE. So, this box has a SIM card and operates the same way as if you use your mobile
phone as a hotspot to connect your tablet to the internet, for example. The difference is the FRITZ!Box makes
Benefits
this configuration
Professionals
permanent in your house. The trick is to make sure you have the right subscription service
End-Users

(preferably unlimited data) to avoid high mobile charges for your private wireless hotspot.
Future proof
solution
No video
buffering

Leverage Wi-Fi
backhaul for Increase
customer No dead High data
multiple standards satisfaction MU-MIMO*
spots Connected traffic

14 qorvo.com
Reduce
truck rolls
Reduce cost of
manufacturing
Multiple smart
Voice
interaction/
home use cases control
Reduce
A Better Way Of Looking At Things

Despite these crossovers, when talking about cellular

and Wi‑Fi, it still feels like two separate worlds and that
we’re switching back and forth between them, like a car
shifting gears. Fortunately, most phones are somewhat
smart, and when the Wi‑Fi connection isn’t working, the
phone automatically switches to the cellular network. But
there’s a real problem if you’re “on the edge of Wi‑Fi” and
Wi‑Fi attempts to take back the connection, leaving you in
limbo with a nonworking Wi‑Fi and a nonworking cellular
connection. In those moments, the solution is to turn off
Wi‑Fi to end the battle and avoid poor response times.

But wouldn’t it be better if there were a good hand-off between the Wi‑Fi connection and the cellular
connection, so that the user always gets the best performance against the lowest cost?

Some consumers won’t care if they are connected via Wi-Fi or, in the future, 5G. The system should just
provide the best connectivity, whether at home indoors, outside, or on the road. Maintaining one subscription
for both home internet and cellular service — we’re talking about a different way of thinking. In this scenario,
a service provider (whether it’s a mobile operator or a cable operator) provides the highest quality wireless
internet access service, both at home and on the road. There are many initiatives underway in this area, all
in the category of “Wi-Fi off-load,” and in principle the technology is there. But it isn’t mainstream yet, due to
multiple competing and legacy interests.

The “Right” Choice

It may be clearer that the customer genuinely isn’t interested in next-generation Wi‑Fi or in the “next G.”
The consumer simply wants the best internet connection — anywhere, at any time and at the most affordable
price. This is the way everyone — whether cellular providers, hotspot providers or internet service providers
— can think about how to deliver the best service most efficiently to their vast subscription base.

The key is to envision 5G and Wi‑Fi 6 working together to implement this, instead of playing one against
the other. There should be no “right” technology choice or choosing the one best technology for a given
application.

Hopefully this different way of thinking will also help to concentrate on today’s real bottleneck — how to get
high-speed internet to the home.

qorvo.com 15
 Is 5G Already a Reality?

It should come as no surprise that the pending arrival

of 5G was THE big story from Mobile World Congress
2019 in Barcelona. Qorvo’s Brent Dietz covered his top
five takeaways from MWC19, including foldable phones
and Sophia the robot — but here’s a recap of Qorvo’s
highlights from the show.

Qorvo’s 5G Mobile Portfolio Enters

High-Volume Production
Most people in the industry didn’t think 5G would be a
reality before 2020, but one overriding message from
Barcelona is that 5G is coming faster than anyone actually expected — and we could see 5G handsets in the
second half of 2019.

In support of that transition, we announced at MWC 2019 that our portfolio of mobile 5G products has moved
into high-volume production, helping leading smartphone manufacturers accelerate the rollout of 5G around
the world. Featured products include the highly integrated front-end modules (FEMs) shown below, which
support all major baseband chipsets and incorporate all the RF front-end (RFFE) functions required to
support new and “refarmed” 5G bands targeted in early deployments.

Part Number Description 5G NR Band Support

QM78203 5G Switched Power Amplifier plus Duplexer (S-PAD) Module with LNA Receive Bands n77, n78 and n79

QM75041 5G Power Amplifier Duplexer Module (PAMiD) Bands n41

QM77038 Multi-Mode Mid/High Band Switched Power Amplifier plus Duplexer (S-PAD) Module Bands n41, n3

Enabling 5G Wireless Infrastructure

With 100+ Million Shipped RF Devices

5G handsets won’t work unless cellular infrastructure is set up to support 5G. Not only have Qorvo
infrastructure products been used in dozens of 5G field trials, including the Samsung 5G multiple-input/
multiple-output (MIMO) demo at the 2018 Winter Olympics, but we also announced at MWC19 that we’ve
shipped more than 100 million 5G wireless infrastructure components since January 2018.

Our 5G infrastructure portfolio includes solutions for both the receive and transmit RF front end, enabling
customers to use beamforming with massive MIMO base stations to achieve higher data capacity, wider
coverage, and indoor penetration using sub-6 GHz and millimeter wave frequencies.

We were also featured in MWC press announcements from silicon-on-insulator (SOI) partner GlobalFoundries
and 5G GaN partner Gapwaves. Gapwaves’ 28 GHz 5G active antenna features a Qorvo integrated FEM and
our GaN-on-SiC technology.

16 qorvo.com
Integration Will Be Critical For 5G Handsets

One mobile industry trend showing no sign of stopping: integration of

RF Fusion
TM

components amid tight space constraints. Indeed, integration will be

CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA
MHB P/N 25 /66/30 1+3 39+41 3+41 3+40 3+7 1+3+7 1+3+32
NR

QM78052 n41, n3
RF Integrated Solutions: Enabling Rapid Deployment

even more critical for 5G handsets, as the number of RF components

QM77138

QM77038
A

A
n41, n3

n41, n3
of High-Performance 4G & 5G Mobile Devices

in the phone only continues to grow.

QM77038-1 A

QM77031 A A A A A A A

QM77030 A S S S A

QM77023 A S A

QM77040 A S S S A n41, n3

Qorvo’s RF Fusion™ products integrate the power amplifier, switch and

QM77040-1 A S S S A

filter content into a single RFFE module, and we announced at MWC that
our newest generation of RF Fusion products had multiple design wins
LB P/N 2G B26 B8 B12 B20 AUX

from leading smartphone manufacturers. QM77033B

QM77033
4

QM77032 A A 2

The newest generation of RF Fusion leverages Qorvo’s advanced BAW

and SAW filter technologies to deliver complete coverage in low-band
and mid/high-band placements, with our QM77033 and QM77031
modules. The latest design wins also include the QM17001 mid/
high-band diplexer and RF8129 envelope-tracking (ET) power management module.

RF Fusion continues to evolve and add functions and features in preparation for the rollout of 5G. The latest
generations add support for new and refarmed 5G bands and EN-DC operation, in a range of scalable options.
You can view our full catalog of RF Fusion solutions for 4G/5G in our latest brochure on qorvo.com/brochures.

Honored For Helping To Drive The Global Adoption for 5G

Among the many highlights during MWC, Qorvo’s Paul Cooper was
recognized by the Global TD-LTE Initiative (GTI) as a 2019 Honorary
Award recipient at its GTI Night celebration.

Paul, who is the director of carrier liaison and standards at Qorvo,

has worked for several years to further the cause of the GTI 2.0
mission to establish a 5G RF front-end sub-6 GHz ecosystem,
supporting member carriers in the U.S., China and Europe. The
Qorvo Carrier Program team coordinated test and marketing staff
to provide data in support of 3GPP new radio (NR) standards that
will drive global adoption of 5G. This award was the culmination of
the hard work put in by Qorvo’s 3GPP RAN4 standards team and
engineering teams providing lab test data.

We’re proud to be among a team of experts from multiple companies,

including Qorvo, Skyworks, Sprint, Qualcomm and LG, that are
helping our customers’ customers — the wireless carriers —
address the RF challenges of 5G.

Qorvo’s Paul Cooper and a cross-company collaborative team accept a GTI Honorary Award at MWC19.

qorvo.com 17
 Getting Ready For 5G: Antenna Tuning Is Essential E-GUIDE

How to Implement
The transition to 5G will drive a significant increase in the typical Aperture Tuning:
number of antennas in each handset, from 4-6 in today’s LTE handsets Best Practices for
Hello, my
4G/5G Smartphones name is Qorvina,

to 6-10 in 5G smartphones. At the same time, the space for those your guide for
advanced RF tech.

antennas is decreasing, creating problems for antenna efficiency

and bandwidth.
What’s Inside

To counteract these challenges, 5G handset designers will need to use • What is aperture tuning?

• What are its key properties?

antenna tuning to optimize the antenna. Aperture tuning is one method • What makes aperture tuning unique?

• What are the implementation challenges?

used today, but implementing it requires in-depth knowledge.

Written By:
Abhinay Kuchikulla
Visit qorvo.com to download our new How to Implement Aperture Senior Marketing Manager, Mobile Products

Tuning: Best Practices for 4G/5G Smartphones e-guide to learn more.

What’s Next: How Do We Make 5G Happen Right Now?

Eric Creviston, president of Qorvo Mobile

Products, sums it up best: “We heard over and
over during MWC that 5G handsets are being
pulled in sooner than planned. Consumer
awareness of 5G is very high and consumers
want to ‘future-proof’ the phones they buy this
year by having 5G capability, even if the network
coverage is not yet in place.”

We may be in the earliest stages of the 5G rollout,

but it’s exciting to see all the hard work and
collaboration from the 3GPP standards, bodies
and the industry starting to come to fruition!

18 qorvo.com
News and Awards

Qorvo RF Fusion™ Wins Multiple Qorvo Wins Prestigious GTI Award

Marquee Smartphone Designs (2/25/19) for 5G RF Front End Module
Utilizing the newest generation of its RF Fusion Qorvo’s QM19000, the world’s first 5G front-
RF front-end modules, Qorvo now supports marquee end and recipient of the GTI 2017 Award for
product releases across leading smartphone “Innovative Breakthrough in Mobile Technology”
manufacturers with highly integrated mid-high offers a robust and reliable platform to
band module solutions. In addition, Qorvo can accelerate 5G testing and deployment.
now leverage their unique capabilities to deliver
enhanced performance in a small solution size The award-winning front-end has been a key
and reduced footprint. element of 5G tests and demonstrations by
operators and ecosystem partners across
As the industry begins its transition to 5G,
the world.
manufacturers can accommodate complex RF content
in handsets and accelerate delivery of next-generation
LTE, LTE-A, 5G and IoT products. This helps smartphone The QM19000 meets the challenging
manufacturers reduce time to market, optimize their requirements of 5G non-standalone (NSA) and
handset portfolio and improve manufacturing yields. standalone (SA) deployments for advanced
applications such as high-definition mobile video
The latest design wins also include the QM17001 and virtual reality.
mid-high band diplexer and RF8129 envelope-tracking
(ET) power management module.

Qorvo and National Instruments Demonstrate

First 5G RF Front-end Module (2/27/18)
In early 2018, Qorvo partnered with National
Instruments to test the first commercially available
5G RF front-end module. Testing demonstrations
were held during the 20th GTI Workshop in London.

Qorvo’s QM19000 5G FEM, which combines a power

amplifier and low noise amplifier into a single
package, is targeted for mobile devices operating
in the 3.4 GHz spectrum.

The FEM was tested with the advanced NI PXI system,

as part of an ongoing effort to help customers design
and test 5G technology for early deployments
of 5G in mobile devices.

Paul Cooper, director of Carrier Liaison and

Standards, Qorvo Mobile Products, stated “The wide
bandwidth, excellent RF performance, and flexibility
of NI’s PXI test system were critical in helping us
introduce the industry’s first commercially available
5G FEM. Qorvo’s focus on innovation was clearly
demonstrated at the 20th GTI Workshop in London.”

To learn more about Qorvo’s news, visit To learn more about Qorvo’s awards, visit
www.qorvo.com/news www.qorvo.com/awards
 © Qorvo, Inc. | 04-2019

Qorvo 5G Product Highlights

RECENTLY RELEASED
QPF4001 QPA3503
GaN single channel FEM 3.4-3.6 GHz GaN PA module
• Frequency: 28 GHz • 3W, 28V
• Package dimensions: 5x4 mm • Package dimensions: 6x10 mm

QPF4005 TGA2224
GaN dual channel FEM GaN power amplifier
• Frequency range: 37-40.5 GHz • Frequency range: 32-38 GHz
• Package dimensions: 4.5x6x1.8 mm • Package dimensions: 3.4x1.4 mm

QPB9337 QPQ1270
Dual channel switch LNA module Band 7 BAW duplexer
• Frequency range: 2.3-3.8 GHz • Frequency range: 30 dBm
• Package dimensions: 6x6 mm • Package dimensions: 2x2.5 mm

QPF4002 QPB9329
GaN dual channel FEM Dual-channel switch LNA module
• Frequency: 28 GHz • Frequency range: 3.8-5 GHz
• Package dimensions: 5x8 mm • Package dimensions: 7x7 mm
QPF4006 QPL9503
GaN single channel FEM LNA
• Frequency range: 37-40.5 GHz • Frequency range: 0.6-6 GHz
• Package dimensions: 4.5x4x1.8 mm • Package dimensions: 2x2 mm
QPQ6108 QPA4501
SAW duplexer GaN PA module
• High input power: 29 dBm on DL • Frequency range: 4.4-5 GHz
• Package dimensions: 2.5x2 mm • Package dimensions: 6x10 mm
QPA9908 QPD0020
High-efficiency PA DC-6 GHz GaN power transistor
• 5V, 4W • 35W, 48V
• Package dimensions: 5x5 mm • Package dimensions: 4x3 mm
QPA9903 QPD0030
1805-1880 MHz 0.5 W high-efficiency amplifier DC-4 GHz GaN RF power transistor
• 5V, 4W • 45W, 48V
• Package dimensions: 5x5 mm • Package dimensions: 4x3 mm
QPA9940 QPD0050
High-efficiency PA DC-3.6 GHz GaN transistor
• 5V, 4W • 75W, 48V
• Package dimensions: 5x5 mm • Package dimensions: 7.2x6.6 mm
QPA9942 QPA3506
High-efficiency PA 3.4-3.6 GHz GaN PA module
• 5V, 4W • 5W, 28V
• Package dimensions: 5x5 mm • Package dimensions: 6x10 mm
QPA9120
QM19000
Wideband driver amplifier
5G RFFE for wireless mobile devices
• Frequency range: 1.8-5 GHz GTI 2017 Award
• Package dimensions: 3x3 mm Innovative breakthrough in mobile technology

At Qorvo, we are developing RF solutions today, for a better, more connected tomorrow.
Visit www.qorvo.com/5G for our latest products.

QORVO and ALL AROUND YOU are registered trademarks www.qorvo.com/5G

of Qorvo, Inc. in the U.S. and in other countries. [email protected]