RFaxis Changes Competitive Landscape of RF Front-Ends for 5GHz WLAN Including 802.11ac

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--RFaxis, Inc., a fabless semiconductor company focused on innovative, next-generation RF solutions for the wireless connectivity and cellular mobility markets, today announced its 5GHz WLAN RF Front-end solutions, the RFX5000 and RFX5000B, are slated for production next month to support the ramp-up schedule of multiple customers. RFX5000 and RFX5000B are RFaxis' second-generation, pure CMOS-based single-chip/single-die RFeICs optimized for the rapidly growing 5GHz WLAN market including support of the emerging 802.11ac standard. RFaxis is offering these best-in-class 5GHz RF front-end solutions at “unheard-of” prices to its customers, while maintaining pin-to-pin compatibility with primary solutions on the market today, such as the Skyworks SE5007T, SE5007BT, SE5012T and SE5012BT.

“We have received overwhelming response to our pure CMOS 5GHz RFeICs since we announced these parts at Computex in Taipei in June”

"We have received overwhelming response to our pure CMOS 5GHz RFeICs since we announced these parts at Computex in Taipei in June,” stated Mike Neshat, chairman and CEO of RFaxis. “We are excited to now offer our customers these state-of-the-art 5GHz RF front-ends at price points never heard of before in our industry. As Wi-Fi products migrate from dominantly single-band 2.4GHz to dual-band 2.4/5GHz solutions, the BOM cost of the 5GHz RF front-ends is becoming a bottle neck. The problem is further exacerbated by the fact that more Wi-Fi products are now implemented as MIMO systems that require multiple RF front-ends. RFX5000 and RFX5000B are truly the right products at the right time. By adopting these unique, pure CMOS-based RFeICs, our customers can reduce the total BOM cost significantly, while providing uncompromised RF performance to their end users."

"We are also in the process of rolling out our next-generation 5GHz RFeIC which is smaller in size and will support direct battery operation," added Neshat. "The new product will greatly increase our presence in the dual-band smartphone space."

The RFX5000 and RFX5000B integrate all key functionality for a 5GHz WLAN RF front end, including the linear power amplifier, LNA, antenna switch, input/output/inter-stage impedance matching, as well as RF decoupling, high-linearity/low-current mode control, and a directional-coupler based power detector into a single-chip bulk CMOS die and housed in a 3x3mm, low-profile 0.5mm plastic QFN package. They deliver up to +18dBm output power with 3 percent EVM for 64QAM/OFDM in the full 5GHz band, including all losses of the antenna switch and impedance matching network. In low-current mode, these CMOS RFeICs achieve +17dBm linear output power at antenna port with a 170mA from 3.3V power supply, while maintaining excellent EVM (3 percent) for 802.11n HT40/MCS7. They also feature extremely low EVM floor (<1.5 percent) and meet the stringent EVM requirements for 802.11ac with MCS9/256QAM and 80MHz channel bandwidth. Combined with high gain (32dB), excellent thermal stability and multiple mode controls with simple CMOS logic, the RFX5000 and RFX5000B outperform all same-class 5GHz front-end solutions on the market today, including those based on GaAs HBT/pHEMT, and SiGe BiCMOS.

About RFaxis, Inc.

Incorporated in January 2008, RFaxis, Inc. is an Irvine, CA, based company specializing in the design and development of RF semiconductors. With its patented technologies, the company leads the way in next-generation wireless solutions designed for the multibillion dollar Bluetooth, WLAN, 802.11n/MIMO, ZigBee, AMR/AMI and wireless audio/video streaming markets. Leveraging pure CMOS, in conjunction with its own innovative approach, patented technology and trade secrets, RFaxis is home to the world's first RF Front-end Integrated Circuit (RFeIC). More information can be found at: www.rfaxis.com.