pSemi unveils industry’s first one-chip SOI Wi-Fi FEM

By Warren Miller, contributing writer

pSemi Corp., a Murata company specializing in semiconductor integration, recently announced the availability of the PE561221, claimed as the industry’s first monolithic, silicon-on-insulator (SOI) Wi-Fi front-end module (FEM). By providing a high-linearity signal and excellent long-packet error vector magnitude (EVM) performance, the PE561221 one-chip solution is well-suited for set-top boxes, routers, and Wi-Fi gateways.

The 2.4-GHz Wi-Fi FEM is built on pSemi’s UltraCMOS platform, a proprietary advanced form of SOI technology. SOI is an optimal application for integrating mixed-signal processing functionality due to its inherent RF and microwave properties and allows the integration of RF, digital, and analog components on a single die. When paired with high-volume CMOS manufacturing, it delivers a reliable, repeatable technology platform, said pSemi.

Leveraging pSemi’s SOI technology and Murata’s expertise in Wi-Fi connectivity and advanced packaging, the PE561221 integrates a low-noise amplifier (LNA), a power amplifier (PA), and two RF switches (SP4T, SP3T) on a single die in a 16-pin, 2 × 2-mm LGA package for either standalone or in 4 × 4 MIMO and 8 × 8 MIMO modules.

“The new IEEE 802.11ax standard is utilizing high-order modulation schemes (1,024 QAM) with demanding EVM requirements,” said Colin Hunt, vice president of worldwide sales for pSemi, in a statement. “Traditional process technologies struggle to keep up with both performance and integration requirements, and only SOI can offer the ideal combination of integration and high performance. This new monolithic Wi-Fi module is a great example of the types of technology and product advancements that pSemi and Murata can accomplish together.”

The Wi-Fi FEM operates at 2.4 to 2.5 GHz. Over the operating temperature range of –40°C to 85°C, the FEM maintains performance and reliability, with less than 0.1 dB of gain droop. At –40 dB EVM (MCS9), the FEM’s output power is +19 dBm with less than 0.05 dB droop in power output after a 4-ms packet.

Volume-production parts and samples are available now. Contact .