Qorvo’s Innovative Timeline of BAW at Qorvo

BAW Filters for 5G

First production BAW filter
1996
shipped (TFR Technologies)

TriQuint acquires TFR

2004
Technologies (Bend, OR)

The onset of 5G is materializing much faster than predicted. Newly developed innovations in the First commercial BAW products
2009
5G supply chain are being requested now. Consumers and businesses are expecting and asking shipped (Richardson, TX factory)

for an increase in data capacity and data link speeds.

RF component suppliers are also caught in this wave. One of the key 5G enabling components, Merger between
2015
TriQuint & RFMD: Qorvo
RF filters, is being asked to do more. As a component that mitigates out-of-band interference to
The 10 billionth BAW filter
allow only the desired data to pass from transmitter to receiver, or visa-versa, the filter provides shipped, introduction of complex
2017
both system quality of service and reliability. In 5G however, it is being asked to do this job with multiplexer products for 4G LTE

less space, in a smaller form factor, with higher Power Class 2 requirements, while providing Production release of BAW5 (5th
gen. BAW), expanding frequency
2018
higher overall performance. In some phone models the size of a 5G phone battery can be twice range of BAW filters to 6 GHz 200
mm wafer manufacturing release
the size of previous LTE phones. For example, the Samsung Note 5G S10 phone has a battery that
Production release for
is 20% larger than the legacy Note LTE S10 model. While this increase in size helps increase the BAW filters up to 6 GHz
2019

mA/h capacity of the 5G phone by about 32%, the battery now inhabits a larger area of the PCB
previously occupied by other components like the RF front end (RFFE).

System Advantages Low Insertion Loss Qorvo BAW Provides Not only is size becoming a constraint, 5G high
frequencies are also affecting RFFE design. To
Transmit Insertion Loss - 0.5 dB meet the demands of 5G, frequency spectrum is
required. 5G acquires this additional spectrum
• 25 ~ 50 mA savings for PA from the higher frequency bands found above
• Longer talking time 3 GHz – both in the sub-7 GHz and mmWave
• Higher antenna transmit power than previous generations ranges (i.e. the more familiar “sub-6 GHz”
• Better thermal performance terminology is included in “sub7 GHz” to support
- Reduces overall device temperature potential frequency allocations up to 7 GHz). The
- Reduces requirement for additional thermal solutions higher the frequency of a design, the greater the
challenge of meeting parameter requirements.
Receive Insertion Loss - 0.7 dB
• Better RF signal range coverage One system parameter RF filters must meet is
• Lower drop call rate passband insertion loss. Line lengths, matching
• Improved receiver signal power components, filter components and connecting
trace lines have an added effect on insertion
...resulting in an increase in data throughout and overall better user experience loss, especially at the higher frequency ranges
above 3 GHz. To optimize a system’s link budget,
low insertion loss is required. As the frequency range increases into the sub-7 GHz realm and above, meeting this insertion loss gets
increasingly challenging. Filter target insertion losses of 1 or 2 dB have now moved to below 1 dB, as manufacturers want to increase
system margin and efficiency at the higher frequencies of 5G.

Qorvo has been solving filtering challenges since 1996 when BAW production began, and has Qorvo BAW Technology
over 240 patents on BAW technology to date. We have shipped over ten billion BAW filters globally
and increased filter complexity by creating multiplexers that maximize carrier aggregation (CA) High Q
performance in a small form factor. Qorvo BAW performs in the 1 GHz up to 20 GHz range; Qorvo
filters supplied in the higher mmWave ranges above 9 GHz are used mostly for defense and
No Spurs
aerospace applications, such as radar systems. For mobile devices, consumer premise equipment
or automotive products, BAW filter technology is focused up to the 9 GHz range.
No Spurs
High Q
Our BAW has many attributes that outperform competitor SAW or FBAR technologies – such as high
Q, low spurs and steep skirts. Additionally, Qorvo BAW has superior thermal properties compared to
other filter products found in the marketplace.

These thermal properties come in handy with 5G Power Class 2 (PC2) requirements. The PC2
requirement increases the maximum output power previously defined by Power Class 3. PC2
increases the transmit output power of the RFFE to compensate for greater propagation losses at
the higher 5G frequencies. Ultimately, an increase in power creates more system thermal heat.

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To make efficient use of additional 5G spectrum, a filter cannot degrade bandwidth while operating over a wide range of temperatures.
BAW has a vertical heat flux acoustic reflector that allows thermal heat to quickly and efficiently dissipate away from the filter. The
topology of BAW provides a lower resistance and prevents resonators from overheating. BAW exhibits very little frequency shifts,
making it ideal for 5G applications that are prone to self-heating due to higher transmit power.

In all 5G use case categories, devices are becoming more complex. Engineers
must negotiate their way through designs efficiently without compromising
∆T=20˚C
at 1W transmit power system performance. One complexity, as noted above, is spectrum, another is
(0.1W loss in resonator) designing a device with a minimum number of antennas, line connections and
lead lengths. Device manufacturers try to create products with the highest
Piezo
amount of functionality in the simplest way. To help reduce the number of
Acoustic antennas in a system, engineers use filters integrated into antenna-plexers..
reflector Antenna-plexers reduce antenna complexity by allowing one antenna to
transmit a large bandwidth. This large bandwidth is then split by the antenna-
Heat

Si plexer into multiple different bands. For example, the triplexer shown below
splits the Wi-Fi, mid-band and ultra-high bands going to one antenna while
providing the out-of-band (OOB) rejection needed for optimal coexistence.

Carrier aggregation (CA) is another complex function of

the RFFE. CA allows microwave devices to create higher
5G Smartphone
data rates by combining two or more carrier signals.
Linear multiplexer filters with OOB rejection allow for Antenna-plexer
multiple CA combinations. For example, bands n77 and
n79 in 5G New Radio designs or LTE bands 1, 3 and 7.
These OOB rejection challenges in CA exist in many
regions throughout the globe. Using BAW, engineers have
access to multiplexers featuring minimal insertion loss
below or around 1 dB. This low insertion loss minimizes
any negative effect on the power amplifier current drain
and device battery life. BAW also provides best-in-class
band isolation and cross-isolation for optimal system-
level performance.

The number of bands in 5G use cases will continue to

grow. The mobile device market has used SAW, BAW
and FBAR filter technologies for decades. However,
5G will alter the alloted spectrum in mobile and non-mobile devices like handsets, Wi-Fi, automotive V2X, radar and infrastructure
and presumably others not yet known. With all the possible 5G applications, discrete and integrated BAW will help engineers resolve
complex antenna systems and coexistence challenges.

B1+B3+B7 Hexaplexers - Enabling Carrier Aggregation As a proven longtime industry leader, Qorvo
understands that each device manufacturer
B1_B3_B7_Hexaplexer creates unique products. By providing RFFE
0
design flexibility, device manufacturers can
more easily layout and design products for
B7 Rx B7 Tx -20
multiple 5G use cases. Qorvo’s portfolio
of filters helps customers find the best
-40
product for their design to meet stringent
B3 Rx B3 Tx certification and design parameters.
-60

B1 Rx B1 Tx -80
1600 1800 2000 2200 2400 2600 2800
Frequency (MHz)

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