Samsung Electronics has announced the commercial readiness of its 5G RF Integrated Circuit (RFIC), which it says is a key component in the production and commercialization of next-generation base stations and other radio access products.
Samsung announced the new RFIC at a 5G mobile technologies workshop held at the Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences. The company presented details on the development and strengths of the chip and outlined its role on the roadmap to commercial 5G products.
The RFIC itself is designed to greatly strengthen the overall performance of 5G access units (i.e. the 5G base station). Samsung says it has placed a strong emphasis on designing for low cost, high efficiency and compact form factors. Each of these criteria is expected to play a critical role in delivering on the promises of 5G, says ul Kyungwhoon Cheun, executive vice president and head of Next Generation Communications Business Team at Samsung Electronics.
“Samsung has been hard at work for several years on the various foundation technologies that go into the 5G RFIC,” said Cheun. “This will have a big role to play in the upcoming connectivity revolution.”
The RFIC incorporates a high-gain/high-efficiency power amplifier, a technology Samsung announced in June last year. This means the chip can provide extended coverage in the mmWave band, overcoming one of the primary challenges of high frequency spectrum. At the same time, Samsung’s RFIC is capable of greatly improved transmission and reception performance. The RFIC’s ability to reduce phase noise in its operating band enables clearer radio signals even in noisy environments where signal quality loss would otherwise disrupt high-speed communications. Completing the chip is a compact chain of 16 low loss antennas, which further enhance overall efficiency and performance.
Samsung’s current RFIC is slated for use in the 28-GHz spectrum band that has become a primary target for early 5G deployments in markets such as the US, Korea and Japan. With development on the chip complete, Samsung is now accelerating its plans for 5G commercial product readiness, with the first RFIC-equipped solutions expected to be announced early next year.
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