Feb 8 2008
TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc., a leading RF front-end product manufacturer and foundry services provider, today announced the first two members of its HADRON II PA Module™ family; the TQM7M5012 and TQM7M5005. These second-generation EDGE PAs were designed using TriQuint’s CuFlip™ copper bump technology, improving RF performance while reducing current consumption to provide longer device battery life. Debuting with a 5x5mm footprint, these solutions are 50 percent smaller than the previous generation, providing handset manufacturers additional board space to add other rich features. The HADRON II PA Module™ family will be displayed at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain (11th – 14th Feb. 2008).
The new products build on the success of TriQuint’s first-generation HADRON PA Module™ family, found in some of the industry’s most popular mobile devices, including Samsung’s BlackJack*, LG’s Shine* and Chocolate 3G*, Palm’s Treo* and HTC’s Advantage*. TriQuint’s EDGE PA module shipments to 3G phones experienced 178 percent growth in 2007 as TriQuint gained market share, and as WCDMA networks grew to provide 70 percent of the world’s commercially launched 3G services1. The growth in WEDGE (WCDMA + EDGE) devices was noted by the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) in its January 15, 2008 update1, which stated “Most WCDMA-HSPA networks combine with EDGE for service continuity and the best user experience.”
Tim Dunn, Vice President for Handsets at TriQuint, said “With WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, FM radios, MP3 players, cameras, and other rich features appearing in more and more 3G phones, design time increases and board space is at a premium. Our CuFlip™ copper bump technology enables us to shrink the module footprint to 5x5mm while extracting heat from the PA more efficiently and reducing current. The result is improvement in size, performance, cost, and reliability.”
Available in EDGE-Polar and EDGE-Linear versions, both products have been optimized to deliver best-in-class current consumption in the critical GMSK mode, which significantly improves handset battery life. The TQM7M5012 for EDGE-Polar applications is aligned with Qualcomm’s newest 3G multimode transceivers. Compared to the previous generation, TQM7M5012 offers even lower Rx band noise power level to help eliminate external components in the radio. The TQM7M5005 is designed to work with some of the worlds leading 2.5G and 3G transceivers that require a linear power amplifier. TriQuint has developed RF radio application and evaluation boards for both the TQM7M5012 and the TQM7M5005 to demonstrate the features and compatibility of the devices, thus enabling phone manufacturers to shorten handset development time.
Paul Cooper, Strategic Marketing Manager for Handsets at TriQuint, said “TriQuint’s customers can be confident that our silicon partner cooperation enables seamless alignment of the HADRON II PA Module™ family with the transceiver chips, offering a streamlined process for radio design and assembly. We are pleased to provide these benefits in both Polar and Linear versions, servicing the needs of our wide customer base.”