RF switches enable ‘smart’ tuning in prototype 4G tunable antenna

June 29, 2017

San Diego, CA. Peregrine Semiconductor Corp. has announced that Monarch Antenna Inc. is using UltraCMOS PE613010 tuning-control switches in Monarch’s latest prototype—a compact 4G tunable antenna. Monarch Antenna—a spinout of Delphi Automotive Systems, LLC—selected the PE613010 switch to showcase the “smart” switching capabilities of self-structuring antenna (SSA) technology in mobile handsets. Patented SSA technology is the culmination of 15 years of R&D, and initial prototypes show superior performance compared to existing antenna solutions, the companies reported. Monarch’s 4G tunable antenna delivers a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), which translates into end-user benefits of better connectivity, faster downloads and longer battery life.

“To fully demonstrate the advanced tuning capabilities of SSA technology, our team needed to find an SPST switch with low on-state resistance,” said Tayfun Ozdemir, Ph.D., co-founder and chief technology officer of Monarch Antenna. “Our engineers had a long list of desired technical specifications, and Peregrine’s PE613010 was the only switch on the market that could meet our performance demands. Thanks to Peregrine’s RF switches, Monarch’s 4G tunable antenna demonstrates a clear advantage in antenna tunability and efficiency.”

For its 4G tunable antenna, Monarch selected a bare-die version of Peregrine’s PE613010 switch to minimize parasitic effects and to enable reliable and efficient tuning across the 700- to 800-MHz frequency range. Inside a mobile handset, the antenna is controlled by a baseband processor, which tunes to a particular channel or searches through tuning states to recover from detuning. In Monarch’s antenna, three Peregrine switches provide eight (23 = 8) tuning states, and each state provides communication over a channel 15-MHz wide. The narrow-band nature of Monarch’s tunable antenna also makes it more efficient than a passive-antenna counterpart covering the entire 700- to 800-MHz band. In addition, the low on-state resistance (RON) of Peregrine’s UltraCMOS switches leads to high radiation efficiency of the antenna.

“In talking with Monarch, it quickly became evident that Peregrine’s PE613010 switch would be an ideal fit for their 4G tunable antenna design,” said Colin Hunt, vice president of worldwide sales at Peregrine Semiconductor. “Peregrine manufactures phenomenal switches, and it is always exciting to see our switches designed into advanced systems—like Monarch’s SSA system—that are clearly on the forefront of innovation.”

SSA is a disruptive antenna technology enabling 3G and 4G devices to deliver richer content over a multitude of protocols and to offer higher mobility. SSA continuously monitors the RF signal and adjusts its configuration to increase signal strength and maximize the SNR. This adjustment is accomplished through continuous “smart” switching/selection of a “set” of antenna combinations through its feedback loop. SSA not only simplifies the antenna design process, but it also counteracts some of the compromises, which had to be introduced due to packaging.

A demo board of Monarch’s 4G tunable antenna is available upon request. Contact Monarch by email at [email protected].

For more information on the PE613010 tuning-control switch, visit the product page on Peregrine’s website.

About the Author

RN (editor)

This post was selected and edited by Executive Editor Rick Nelson from a press release or other news source. Send relevant news to [email protected].

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