ICs & Semiconductors

Designed for cellular applications requiring native linearity over temperature extremes, the GRF5521 is the latest InGaP HBT (heterojunction bipolar transistor) model in Guerilla RF’s 1/4W linear power amplifier family.

The GRF5521 is one of 10 1/4W linear power amplifiers (PAs) released as part of the company’s continued expansion into the cellular market. The InGaP HBT amplifiers were designed for 5G/4G wireless infrastructure applications requiring exceptional native linearity over temperature extremes of -40 to +85 degrees 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. It delivers 23.5dBm of linear power over the entire temperature range while maintaining ACLR levels of better than -45dBc, IMD3 levels less than -22dBm, EVM levels less than one per cent and PAE efficiencies above 20 per cent, said Guerilla RF and 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, explained Guerilla RF. In each of these use cases, the sensitivity to cost, power and size constraints prohibits the use of elaborate linearisation techniques and designers must rely on the power amplifier’s native linearity to meet the stringent emissions mask requirements imposed by 5G and 4G standards.

Guerilla RF designed the GRF55xx series to be footprint-compatible, enabling customers to rapidly customise designs for a wide selection of cellular frequencies.

Ryan Pratt, CEO and founder of Guerrilla RF, said the company will offer production-released products covering every major cellular band between 660 and 4200MHz. These linear power amplifiers are popular with cellular booster / repeater and automotive customers, he said.

The GRF55xx family comes in pin-compatible 3.0 x 3.0mm, 16-pin QFN packages. Samples and evaluation boards are available for the GRF5521.

 https://www.guerrilla-rf.com 

The STM32WB5MMGH6 wireless module by STMicroelectronics provides a subsystem for wireless communications for industrial applications using Bluetooth Low Energy, Zigbee and Thread standard and comes with free-to-use protocol stacks. Alternatively, developers can use other proprietary protocols.

At the heart of the module is STMicroelectronics’ STM32WB55 MCU which has an Arm Cortex-M4 core for application-level processing and a Cortex-M0+ dedicated to managing the integrated radio, which safeguards real-time performance in both domains, explained ST.

The MCU’s on-chip RAM is advantageous when running the Thread protocol, added the company. 

The module can be used in wireless communication and control of devices such as remote sensors, smart door locks, PC accessories including printers, and infrastructure equipment like network gateways and smart building controllers.

The module integrates the antenna and its matching circuitry, together with all the required passives and timing crystals. Pre-certifications for EMC, Bluetooth LE 5.3, Zigbee 3.0 and OpenThread simplify the mandatory testing and product-level approval processes for users, claimed ST, which saves development costs and accelerates time to market.

The STM32WB5MMGH6 module can be integrated into continuous monitoring systems to enhance the maintenance of industrial equipment and avoid unexpected failures and downtime. It has been used by prescriptive and predictive maintenance company, I-care, with its Wi-care sensors in a wireless and continuous asset monitoring system. When combined with I-see, the company’s cloud-based and AI-driven analytical platform, it provides a complete maintenance industry 4.0 solution, allowing users to visualise equipment status and plan maintenance schedules, said I-care.

“Choosing a wireless module instead of engineering a chip-down solution is the fastest way for developers to complete their projects,” said Hakim Jaafar, general manager – BLE/802.15.4 MCU, STMicroelectronics. 

The STM32WB5MMGH6 module is in production now and supported by ST’s 10-year product longevity commitment, which ensures long-term availability of parts for industrial applications.

Product designers working with the STM32WB5MMGH6 module can use the STM32 microcontroller development ecosystem that includes free tools, for example the STM32CubeMX configurator and software, such as the STM32CubeWB MCU package. This package provides essential embedded-development resources, including production-ready MISRA C and ISO/TS 16949-compliant hardware abstraction layer (HAL) and low-layer APIs, FatFS file system, FreeRTOS, communication-protocol stacks, and code examples.

http://www.st.com