NXP introduces top-side cooling for RF power
New packaging technology for RF power enables smaller, thinner and lighter radio units
NXP Semiconductors has announced a family of GaN-based top-side cooled RF amplifier modules, based on a packaging innovation designed to enable thinner and lighter radios for 5G infrastructure.
The company says these modules help to reduce not only the thickness and weight of the radio by more than 20 percent, and also reduce the carbon footprint for the manufacture and deployment of 5G base stations.
“Top-side cooling represents a significant opportunity for the wireless infrastructure industry, combining high power capabilities with advanced thermal performance to enable a smaller RF subsystem,” said Pierre Piel, VP and general manager for Radio Power at NXP. “This innovation delivers a solution for the deployment of more environmentally friendly base stations, while also enabling the network density needed to realize the full performance benefits of 5G.”
NXP’s new top-side cooled devices are said to deliver a number of benefits including the removal of the dedicated RF shield, use of cost-effective and streamlined PCB, and separation of thermal management from RF design.
NXP’s first top-side cooled RF power module series is designed for 32T32R, 200 W radios covering 3.3 GHz to 3.8 GHz. The devices combine the company’s in-house LDMOS and GaN semiconductor technologies to enable high gain and efficiency with wideband performance, delivering 31 dB gain and 46 percent efficiency over 400 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth.
The A5M34TG140-TC, A5M35TG140-TC and A5M36TG140-TC products are available today. The A5M36TG140-TC will be supported by NXP’s RapidRF reference board series.
