Scintera Releases Integrated Dual-RMS RF Power Measurement Unit and RF Power Amplifier Linearizer IC for Cellular Infrastructure

SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Scintera Networks, Inc., a leading provider of mixed signal semiconductors for wireless communications, today announced the availability of the SC1889A-00B11 RF Power Amplifier Linearizer (RFPAL) with integrated dual-RMS power measurement unit (PMU). Based on broadly deployed and field-proven technology, the SC1889A-00B11 expands Scintera's system footprint beyond power amplifier linearization to include RF power measurement thus enabling designers to further reduce cost, size, power and design cycles in 3G and 4G RF cellular infrastructure systems.

The SC1889A-00B11 integrates the entire PMU function that would otherwise require up to three external devices consisting of a precision RMS power detector, an analog-to-digital converter and a microcontroller.  The new function requires no additional external components beyond those already required for the RFPAL and integrates seamlessly with the existing linearization function. The PMU simplifies designs by providing data as digital codes that are easily exported to any controller through a standard digital interface.  The PMU delivers excellent measurement performance across cellular frequencies, RF power levels and operating conditions. Requiring only a single point of calibration, the simultaneous dual-RMS power detector provides an absolute accuracy (typical) of +/- 0.1 dB over the first 20 dB of the input range and +/- 0.5 dB over the last 10 dB of input range for the power amplifier (PA) lineup input and output.  This level of performance enables designers to utilize the SC1889A-00B11 for precise control of PA gain and output power required for wireless infrastructure transmitters across all major 3G and 4G standards including WCDMA, LTE and TD-LTE.

"Our cellular infrastructure customers have integrated Scintera's linearizers in well over 100,000 RF power amplifiers now deployed in the field, and the rate of adoption continues to accelerate," said Davin Lee, chief executive officer of Scintera. "Delivering a complementary feature to our existing RFPALs, like high performance power detection, will further drive adoption by accelerating our customers' ability to deliver systems under aggressive cost, power and footprint constraints."

Chris Marshall, vice president of RF and Wireless at Richardson RFPD, said, "Scintera provides a unique and high performance linearization solution that has been rapidly utilized in mass production by customers across multiple RF markets, from broadcast to infrastructure to microwave radio.  Scintera's latest innovation, high performance RF power detection, is a required function on many of the same designs that presently use linearization.  Providing an integrated linearization and power detection solution enables customers to get their PA designs to market faster and at lower cost." 

The SC1889-00B11 is packaged in a standard 64-pin, 9 x 9 mm QFN package enabling the entire solution to fit in less than 6 cm2 of board space enabling integration into even the most restricted form factors. 

Availability

The SC1889-00B11 is available now in mass production quantities.

About Scintera

Scintera is an industry leader in delivering high performance, compact and very low-power system-on-chip solutions to measure, modify and monitor RF signals and systems. The company's programmable analog signal processing architecture effectively combines digital programmability with the simplicity, small size and low power consumption of analog circuit processing. The first products to leverage this innovative architecture are its family of adaptive RF predistortion linearizers. Scintera is privately held and headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For further information, please visit www.scintera.com.

The Scintera logo and Scintera are registered trademarks of Scintera Networks, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

For more information, please contact:

Kris Rausch
Scintera Networks, Inc.
408-636-2663
[email protected]

SOURCE Scintera Networks, Inc.