PRFI Predictions for 2021

By Liam Devlin, CEO, PRFI

GaAs and GaN Power Amplifier (PA) ICs will see increased adoption in mmWave 5G base stations. The cell sizes in urban mmWave 5G will be small. This is in part due to the need to provide very high data rate services to multiple users in a dense environment, but is also a feature of the limited non-line-of-sight propagation capabilities of mmWave signals. Si technology can provide a lower cost and is better suited to higher levels of integration, but cannot reach the RF power levels that GaAs and GaN technologies can offer. While many base station developers would like to use Si technology throughout, the higher RF power levels offered by GaAs and GaN are likely to be necessary to offer a robust system. With the increased density of mmWave cells, reducing power consumption will be a major consideration, and technologies such as Doherty will increasingly be favored to improve PA efficiency.

There will be significant growth in the use of Ku- and Ka-band satcomms for global broadband access. There are a number of broadband satcomms systems in these bands that are either in operation or under development. In addition to Space X’s much-publicized Starlink system, Inmarsat’s Global Xpress system is already operational and the recent bail-out of OneWeb by the UK government and Bharti Global means they can complete their planned global broadband satellite internet service. Other companies offering broadband access via satellite include Viasat in the US and Eutelsat in Europe. The links from these broadband satellites back to the ground stations—and also between satellites–also use mmWave links. Emerging High-Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS) such as those being deployed or developed by Loon, HAPSmobile and Stratospheric Platforms, utilize mmWave links as well, and we expect all of these applications to accelerate the demand for MMICs at higher frequencies.

There will be increased interest in the use of D-band (in the 110 GHz to 170 GHz range) for future broadband wireless communications. The practical challenges of implementing wireless links at these higher mmWave frequencies is significant, but the availability of very wide channel bandwidths offers a route to higher data rates that will be the focus of significant R & D activity.

Tags: Predictions

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