Qorvo-The World’s First 5G RF Front-End Module
Growing demand for mobile video and other applications is driving an accelerated timeline for delivering 5G to smartphones and other mobile devices. In March 2017, the 3GPP standards group approved a new standard, for the 5G non-standalone (NSA) radio. This standard enables mobile operators to deliver 5G enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) service by leveraging their existing 4G infrastructure. As a result, 5G mobile deployments are expected to start as early as 2019, and initial 5G implementations are expected to use frequencies between 3.3 and 3.8 GHz.
In mobile broadband, 5G will complement 4G rather than replacing it. LTE Advanced and LTE Advanced Pro networks using carrier aggregation are expected to provide peak data rates up to roughly 1 Gbps, which is adequate for many uses. 5G will add much higher peak network speeds—up to around 10 Gbps—to support bandwidth-intensive applications such as live video and augmented reality (see Figure 1). Unlike the 5G standalone (SA) specification, 5G NSA uses the existing 4G LTE radio and core network as an “anchor” for control and management, together with a 5G data carrier.
Supporting 5G creates significant challenges for the mobile device RF front-end (RFFE), including new frequency bands, massive bandwidth, high output power and both 4G and 5G waveforms. The Qorvo QM19000, the world’s first 5G mobile RFFE, is designed to meet these challenges. As shown in Figure 2, the QM19000 integrates the power amplifier (PA), low noise amplifier (LNA), transmit/receive (Tx/Rx) switch and wideband filter into a single module that supports up to 400 MHz bandwidth over the 3.3 to 4.2 GHz frequency range.