Making a cell phone that will work with the forthcoming Long-Term Evolution (LTE) 4G standard is a real engineering achievement. But also making it backward compatible with older UMTS/WCDMA/HSPA 3G and GSM/EDGE 2G is a real challenge. While such a phone can be built with multiple RF chips today, Fujitsu Microelectronics America offers a single IC that covers all of the above.

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The MB86L10A RF transceiver covers from 700 MHz to 2.7 GHz. It eliminates 3G and LTE TX and RX interstage surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters and low-noise amplifiers (LNAs). This single-chip transceiver also boasts backward compatibility with a high-level programming model (API) for radio control using DigRF/MIPI D3G and D4G open standard digital interfaces, making it compatible with a wide range of industry basebands.

With the MB86L10A, cell-phone designers can reduce component count, board space, and bill of materials. Its simplified programming model significantly reduces development time and simplifies integration of the RF in a radio platform. Optimized for compressed mode operation, the chip also features quad-band GSM/EDGE and up to five WCDMA or LTE bands in a single-phone configuration. It can even implement LTE-TDD, as well as standard LTE-FDD.

Eight outputs directly drive the power amplifiers, eliminating the need for TX SAW filters while simultaneously supporting advanced multimode power amplifiers. The receiver provides nine inputs that support LTE, WCDMA, and GSM/EDGE. The RF front end eliminates the need for LNAs and SAW filters. Five additional input ports enable RX diversity in WCDMA and LTE modes. Also, the receiver incorporates anti-aliasing filters, digital channel filters, digital gain control, and high-dynamic-range analog-to-digital converters (ADCs).

The chip supports GSM (GSM850, EGSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900), WCDMA (Bands I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VIII, IX, X, and XI), and LTE (FDD Bands 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 17 and TDD band 38 or 40). It includes dual 3G and 4G DigRF interfaces to the baseband IC to support the latest as well as legacy generations of basebands, serial peripheral interface (SPI) and/or general-purpose I/O, control power amplifiers, switching regulators, and antenna switches. A microcontroller in the transceiver simplifies timing and control.

“The Fujitsu MB86L10A LTE multimode transceiver is the first of its kind to eliminate LNAs and 3G/4G TX and RX SAWs, reducing board area, component count and cost,” said Vivek Bhan, senior director of RF engineering and product development for Fujitsu Microelectronics America. “This LTE multimode RF transceiver supports most global band configurations and standard interfaces, and its simple RF API programming reduces radio integration time. The result is smaller radios with optimal time-to-market for handset manufacturers worldwide.”

Bhan is the head of an engineering team in Tempe, Ariz., comprising 130 ex-Motorola and ex-Freescale engineers and designers. They have done an amazing job with this new chip and with their first RF transceiver introduced last year. The MB86L10A will bring multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) and 100-Mbit/s LTE to the handset and to laptop dongles, making wireless broadband a major choice in the future.

Samples of the MB86L10A manufactured in 90-nm CMOS process technology are available now in 230-pin, 6.5- by 9.0- by 0.9-mm land-grid array (LGA) packages. Full production is expected in the fourth quarter of 2010. Volume pricing is available upon request.

Fujitsu Microelectronics America Inc.