Bench Talk

The 5G Revolution

5G ushers in a new era in cellular communications. Operating across a wide radio frequency spectrum, 5G will deliver low-latency Gigabit Internet speed communications in addition to several fundamentally different cellular communication capabilities. Of the many new capabilities, 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) is one technology example that businesses and consumers will quickly benefit from as a replacement for traditional fiber/cable installations.

Touted as the enabling backbone for vehicle-to-everything communication (V2X), augmented and virtual reality applications, and new robotic developments, 5G opens up new services and capabilities that industry, commerce, and consumers will benefit from once it is deployed. Eager to embrace the promises of 5G, many countries are rolling out 5G test systems and infrastructure. As a result, the assigned 5G radio spectrum has signals from new installations popping up daily.

5G Idea to Deployment

Getting to the stage we are now with 5G required considerable effort across the telecommunications industry. Qorvo is an example of a company that has been at the heart of 5G from its very inception, involved in helping to define the 5G standards, and working with partners across the 5G ecosystem, from network operators to smartphone companies, and from base station manufacturers to chipset designers. Qorvo has been part of almost every 5G infrastructure trial to date and has launched a number of industry firsts such as the industry’s first 5G (millimeter wavelength or mmWave) fully integrated RF front-end module and sub-6GHz RF LNA and PA front-end modules. As field tests turn into operational infrastructure, the industry looks to partners like Qorvo to help them meet deployment deadlines. Qorvo proved itself to be well-positioned to support 5G deployment by shipping over 100 million 5G wireless infrastructure components to its customers from January 2018 to February 2019.

Several key technology concepts and innovations enable 5G. Beam steering and beamforming are just two concepts on which active antenna systems rely. To add to the complexities of implementation, 5G uses two sections of the RF spectrum—sub-6GHz (3.3 to 5GHz) and mmWave (24 to 43GHz)—to deliver a combination of data bandwidth, optimal RF range, and low latency. The two sections of the RF spectrum have different characteristics, so from an operational deployment perspective, decisions have to be made while imposing no involvement on 5G users. Together, along with a host of intelligence in the network infrastructure, the user benefits of 5G are delivered. For example, mmWave provides extensive bandwidth of up to 43GHz and offers Gigabit transfer speeds, although path loss attenuation due to plants and buildings must be considered. By contrast, sub-6GHz provides a quarter of the bandwidth of mmWave but is less subject to path loss. Antenna systems involve a high degree of complexity too, since massive multiple-in-multiple-out (MIMO) antennas form arrays of (16, 32, or 64) antennas, increasing bandwidth and making beamforming and beam steering possible. Then there are the power Doherty amplifiers, low-noise amplifiers, switches, RF power transistors, and a host of other components that make up the RF “plumbing.” 

Whatever your 5G infrastructure RF component requirement, Qorvo has a field-proven solution to meet your needs. The portfolio includes RF ICs, transistors, RF front-end modules, receive and transmit modules, and low-noise amplifiers—everything you need to design and build your 5G infrastructure equipment. An example product is the Qorvo QPA2628, an mmWave low-noise amplifier IC that offers a gain of up to 25dB against a noise figure of 1.3dB. Another example is the Qorvo QPB9329, a highly integrated front-end module for TDD base stations, which can be utilized across the 3.8 to 5GHz range.

All the major US cellular network suppliers are in the process of testing or deploying fixed and mobile 5G networks. Some, such as T-Mobile, stated they will launch a commercial 5G service during the latter half of 2019 with the intention to provide nationwide coverage by 2024. Sprint already has mobile 5G services operating in several cities including Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, and Kansas City. Verizon is starting to offer fixed and mobile 5G services in a few areas too. The amount of investment in 5G network infrastructure is impressive, with T-Mobile alone sharing that it is investing $40 billion over the next three years to build out its national 5G infrastructure.

Let Qorvo be your supplier of choice for the semiconductors, ICs, and modules necessary to build your 5G infrastructure equipment. A comprehensive e-book titled “Harnessing the Power of 5G” gives insight into the architecture of deploying a 5G infrastructure, and an overview of Qorvo’s 5G product portfolio can be found here.