mmWave IC pair shrinks cost and size, boosts performance

A beamformer and up/down converter from Anokiwave cover 24 GHz to 30 GHz.

As the rate of mmWave deployments increases, radio designers get pushed to shrink the size and cost of small cells. Engineers also need to reduce power consumption and increase transmitter efficiency. Anokiwave’s 4^th generation of mmWave signal chain ICs have gained two members in pursuit of those goals.

The AWMF-0221 beamformer IC supports 4@times;2 dual polarity or 8×1 single-polarity transmit and receive beams used with a single antenna. It covers the 3GPP n258, n257, and n261 (24.25 to 29.5 GHz) bands. The device boasts higher linear transmit power and improved efficiency than predecessors, though Anokiwave doesn’t specify the parameters in the literature. Housed in an FC-CSP package, the AWMF-0221 has a 6-bit phase control and a 5-bit gain control for steering beams. Beam-steering controls comply with 3GPP standards.

Anokiwave also announced the AWMF-0210 IF up/down converter IC for the same frequency bands.

The AWMF-0210 is a highly integrated silicon frequency-
conversion IC that supports 5G phased-array applications. When
used with Anokiwave’s beamformer IC products such as the AWMF-0221, the AWMF-0210 provides low-cost, high-performance, and feature-rich 5G phased array systems. The half-duplex IC integrates Tx single-sideband up-conversion and Rx image-reject down-conversion with programmable high-side or low-side LO. It’s on-chip frequency multiplier simplifies board-level integration with external PLLs. The IF up/down converter ICs are compatible with the respective Anokiwave Beamformer ICs, for they share common mechanical and electrical interfaces, which provides cascade integration from IF to antenna and back.

Anokiwave provides development kits for both devices. The kits include:

• Test board with 12 x RF connectors, 1 x DC connector, and 1 x SPI connector
• DC power cable assembly
• high speed SPI cable assembly
• SPI interposer board
• USB-SPI interface module
• 25 extra ICs (AWMF-0221-DK only) or 10 extra ICs (AWMF-0210-DK only)
• Gerber files, PCB layout support, and Anokiwave design assistance
• SPI driver software, full test results, and board calibration
• Software Installation and Control Software
• User’s Guide