CSR has announced the introduction of the quad-GNSS SiRFstarV 5t tracker, the first product based on its SiRFstarV architecture that has been optimised to deliver continuous, highly accurate location awareness to the latest generation of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.The SiRFstarV 5t is already in use by LG Electronics for its first quad-core smartphone, the LG Optimus 4X HD, which takes advantage of the device's GLONASS support and high sensitivity.
A recent report from French analysts Yole Développement forecasts that the market for key RF components will reach $4.7B in 2016. The report, entitled 'RF filters, PAs, Antenna Switches & Tunability for Cellular Handsets', describes the emerging technologies that are driving the RF architecture changes and will create new market opportunities.
Barcelona, Spain-based Baolab Microsystems’ NanoEMS technology, which is used to create MEMS structures within the standard metal structure of a CMOS wafer, is now in volume production on a standard CMOS production line. The first device to reach volume production is the company’s 3-axis CMOS MEMS NanoCompass compass device, but the technology has potential for RF antennas, RF filters and other RF devices.
MagnaChip Semiconductor and Peregrine Semiconductor have announced that MagnaChip has ramped to mass production of Peregrine’s RF switch products using the latest generation “STeP5” UltraCMOS SOS (Silicon-On-Sapphire) technology.
CEA-Leti’s RF MEMS switch technology has reached a new level of maturity – the company says a major advance has been achieved in the reliability of the devices’ electrostatic actuators. They have introduced a new switch design that uses a dielectric-less solution in which an air gap prevents contact between the electrodes when the bridge is down, thanks to small dielectric dots placed under the mobile electrode. CEA-Leti’s long-term tests showed a drastic improvement in reliability and no pull-down voltage drift was observed during the tests.
