SiGe:C heterojunction bipolar transistor offers the industry’s best low-noise performance for wireless LANs
The new SiGe:C HBT is a transistor that amplifies a weak microwave signal received wirelessly to an appropriate level and achieves a noise figure of 0.75 dB, which is the industry’s top level for the 5.8 GHz band used by wireless LANs and other applications. The fact that it amplifies with such low noise means that it can increase communication sensitivity in end products. Since it can reduce signal transmission errors, it can achieve operating power consumption as low as one-quarter of that of Renesas’ existing products while maintaining equivalent performance.
The NESG7030M04 SiGe:C HBT device claims to achieve both the industry’s best low-noise performance as well as stable performance over a wide frequency range from a few MHz to the 14 GHz band.
By applying this newly-developed SiGe:C process, Renesas’ 5.8 GHz band SiGe:C HBT and SiGe HBT devices achieve the industry’s lowest noise level of 0.75 dB which is an improvement of 0.35 dB compared with earlier Renesas SiGe HBT devices. The device achieves a gain at the minimum noise level of 14.0 dB. This allows communication sensitivity to be increased and signal transmission errors to be reduced, and the new device can achieve equivalent performance to earlier Renesas products at 1/4 of the power consumption.
In earlier silicon-based heterojunction bipolar transistors, it was not possible to avoid a reduction in the collector-emitter withstand voltage in exchange for reducing noise, and this limited the range of applications for which these devices could be used. In the new device, Renesas has optimized the collector-base profile, making it possible to guarantee a withstand voltage rating of 4.3 V which increases the range of supply voltages that can be used and enables stable operation over a wide frequency range, from a few MHz to the 14 GHz band. Te device is able to be used in a wider range of applications. For example, it can support all ISM band applications, including smart grid, smart meter, and home area network (HAN) applications.
Renesas provides the device in an industry standard 4-pin thin-form mini-molded package which helps to contribute to a reduction in manufacturing steps in end user products. Examples include simplifying the mounting evaluation process due to the track record of existing packages; and using an existing circuit board pattern and slightly modifying the surrounding circuits.
Availability
Samples of Renesas’ new SiGe:C HBT are available now. Mass production is scheduled to start in November 2011 at 1,000,000 units per month, and is expected to reach 50,000,000 units per month together with the company’s existing SiGe HBT products.
Visit Renesas Electronics Europe at www.renesas.eu
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