Radios for 5G / LTE / Microwave

Radio equipment, including Remote Radio Units (RU) and Remote Radio Heads (RRH), is fundamental in wireless infrastructure. With mobile traffic demand projected to grow exponentially over next few years, networks are being designed to deliver a greater number of connections, as well as higher bandwidth per connection.

To support these objectives, 5G is expected to drive radio bandwidth >10x. The number of radio units deployed is also expected to grow substantially. In terms of the antenna configuration, from current 2x2 MIMO format, 5G will see all the way to 64 x 64 MIMO for millimeter wave radios.

Due to the diversity of spectrum/frequency and capacity, even LTE radios are built in a wide range of form factors, interfaces, frequency bands and power levels. With 5G, we expect to see even more diverse deployment scenarios for radio units. Some of these variations will re-format Remote Radio Head / Unit (RRH /RRU) designs from the LTE era, while others may take a form of an Active Antennae Unit / System (AAU / AAS).

In radio design, managing total power dissipation and thermal design become critical design factors, especially in a fan-less, outdoor environment. Microsemi FPGAs, saving up to 50% of power consumption, offer a significant degree of freedom to radio engineers.

For 5G, most of the new radios will use eCPRI interfaces to connect with a base station (DU). Unlike classic CPRI, eCPRI requires time (frequency and phase) synchronization to be achieved by in-band packet method like IEEE 1588v2. Microsemi offers a complete solution to quickly enable frequency and phase synchronization and reliably operate it in a field deployment.

With our industry-leading technologies, our portfolio is engineered to help you meet your radio design needs. Some of the key products offerings include:

• FPGAs: Lowest power mid-range density FPGAs with CPRI support
• Network Synchronization ICs: Network proven merchant solution for IEEE 1588 with phase, frequency and power profiles
• Ethernet: Highly integrated Ethernet switch / PHY for uplink
• Precision Crystal & SAW Oscillators: Highly stable, low cost, OCXO / TCXO

As a long-time supplier to the communications industry, Microsemi has considerable systems and communications networking expertise and is well-known for our high-reliability, high-performance solutions. We understand the design and deployment challenges of cellular infrastructure and offer innovative technologies to meet your most stringent requirements.

Contact your local Microsemi sales office today to find the right technologies and products for your radio equipment design needs.