TriQuint’s WLAN solutions power smartphones worldwide

Mobile World Congress 2011, HILLSBORO, USA & BARCELONA, SPAIN: TriQuint Semiconductor Inc., a leading RF solutions supplier and technology innovator, announced its two power amplifiers (PA) for WLAN connectivity lead the market, since ramping to production last year.

Both the single and dual-band PAs are designed to augment the WiLink 6.0 solution and recently launched WiLink 7.0 solution from Texas Instruments (TI). The TQM679002A and TQP6M9002 offer faster data exchange rates, extended battery life, and better amplification of weak signals than competitive technologies.

Today’s smartphones and tablets increasingly include both cellular and WLAN connectivity options, offering users the choice of broadband connectivity between cellular networks or WiFi networks. The integration of both technologies benefits consumers and carriers by offloading cellular capacity onto local WiFi networks. Given the additional bandwidth the 5GHz 802.11a frequency band offers, an increasing number of tablets, smartphones, and other mobile internet devices (MID’s) are dual-band WiFi enabled.

TriQuint’s integrated WLAN PAs are built with TriQuint’s in-house E/D pHEMT and Copper Bump (CuFlip) technologies and are found in smartphones such as the Motorola Droid & Droid2, RIM Blackberry Torch, and Samsung ‘Giorgio Armani’.

TI's WiLink 6.0 mobile platform is a complete hardware and software offering comprising proven, carrier-quality mobile WLAN, Bluetooth technology and FM cores integrated into a single chip. The WiLink 6.0 single-chip solution delivers low-battery consumption, small form-factor and low cost requirements to meet the needs of handset and mobile device manufacturers worldwide.

“Our goal with the WiLink 6.0 and WiLink 7.0 platforms is to enable our customers to build revolutionary designs and products with co-existing connectivity options that meet the surface area and power requirements of mobile designs. TriQuint’s RF solutions for WLAN and Bluetooth technologies offer faster data rates and better amplification of weak signals in the mobile device’s often-cramped board space. We are pleased to be working with TriQuint to offer our mutual customers an easy-to-use mobile computing platform for the development of next generation end-user experiences that support the truly connected lifestyle we envision at TI,” said Eran Sandhaus, director of Marketing, Wireless Connectivity Solutions, TI.

Tim Dunn, Vice President and General Manager of Mobile Devices at TriQuint, said: “WiFi connectivity is becoming a ‘must-have’ feature for today’s smartphones and tablets because it enables consumers the ability to leverage home networks and WiFi hotspots when the 3G networks are at capacity. We are pleased to be working closely with Texas Instruments to offer smartphone and tablet vendors an exemplary solution and are investing in capacity to support this growing market demand.”

TriQuint offers the industry’s largest in-house technology portfolio which uniquely enables innovative RF architectures that align with major chipset providers; this provides device manufacturers qualified, tested and certified solutions. TriQuint will highlight these platform solutions at the telecommunications industry’s largest annual gathering, GSMA Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona, Spain 14-17 February, 2011.

Technology overview
Both the single band 2.4GHz TQM679002A and dual band 2.4GHz/5GHz TQP6M9002 are fully integrated MMIC’s incorporating power amplifier and detectors, pre-PA filters, T/R switches, and WLAN Rx Balun. The 2.4GHz band SP3T switch seamlessly selects between WLAN TX, RX, and Bluetooth paths.

The TriQuint solutions offer integration with both the WiLink 6.0 and WiLink 7.0 mobile platforms. The single band TQM679002A comes in a 3.0x3.0x0.45 package and supports 802.11b/g/n + BT. The dual band TQP6M9002 supports 802.11a/b/g/n + BT and is available in a 4.0x4.0x0.45 package.