News Article
Peregrine launches highest isolation, carrier-grade Wi-Fi switch
A new Silicon-on-Sapphire RF switch delivers 50 times more isolation and 10 times better linearity for 802.11ac Wi-Fi access points
Peregrine Semiconductor Corporation, a fabless provider of radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), has announced what it claims is the highest performance, carrier-grade Wi-Fi switch on the market. With the highest isolation by a factor of 50, Peregrine's switch also sets a new bar in linearity, which makes it ideally suited for the fast-growing market of 802.11ac Wi-Fi access points. "Mobile Experts' research shows the number of carrier-grade Wi-Fi access points deployed has grown 40 percent this year alone," says Joe Madden, founder and principal analyst at Mobile Experts. "With the Wi-Fi market shift to dual-band 802.11ac support, we predict the market for RF suppliers - such as Peregrine - will grow even faster at a rate of 50 percent annually through 2016." The rising amount of cellular-data offload to Wi-Fi networks is significantly increasing the complexity of access-point radios. Most Wi-Fi access points now contain multiple radios in order to address the capacity demands of cellular data. Based on Peregrine's UltraCMOS technology, the PE42423 is the first in its class to offer 41 dB of port-to-port isolation at 6 GHz. This best-in-class isolation enables multi-radio access points to perform at peak levels without interference between the radios. Peregrine's UltraCMOS process is a patented variation of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology on a sapphire substrate. Exceeding the stringent 802.11ac standard, Peregrine's switch also offers 65 dBm of linearity to achieve higher data rates. In addition, UltraCMOS technology delivers equally high performance at either 3.3V or 5V, unlike gallium arsenide (GaAs) switches that experience severe performance degradation below 5V. Peregrine's switch gives networking-product designers the flexibility to operate at lower power supplies and reduce energy consumption. "Peregrine's long-standing leadership in RF switches, combined with our UltraCMOS technology, has enabled us to develop the highest performance, carrier-grade Wi-Fi switch on the market," says Dave Shepard, vice president of Peregrine's high-performance solutions business unit. "Peregrine is committed to meeting the Wi-Fi data-rate and capacity demands of the future, and we are already helping networking vendors achieve unprecedented performance using this switch in their Gigabit Wi-Fi access points." Features, Packaging, Pricing & Availability Now shipping, Peregrine's PE42423 is a Single-Pole Double Throw (SPDT) RF switch featuring low insertion loss (0.8 dB @ 2.4 GHz, 0.95 dB @ 5.8 GHz), fast switching time (500 ns) and high ESD ratings (3.0 kV HBM on all RF pins). The switch supports +1.8V standard logic control. It provides stable RF performance over a power supply range between 2.3V and 5.5V. The packaging is RoHS compliant, 16-lead QFN and measures 3 x 3 mm.
