Qualcomm Announces Breakthrough Qualcomm ultraSAW RF Filter Technology for 5G/4G Mobile Devices
Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. today announced the Qualcomm® ultraSAW filter technology, another groundbreaking innovation in the company’s industry-leading wireless technology portfolio that builds on the company’s legacy of developing breakthrough technologies and enabling new experiences and expanding the mobile ecosystem.
Radio frequency (RF) filters isolate radio signals from the different spectrum bands that phones use to receive and transmit information. By achieving as much as 1 decibel (dB) improvement in insertion loss, Qualcomm ultraSAW filters offer a higher performance solution compared to competing bulk-acoustic (BAW) filters in the sub-2.7 GHz frequency range.
Qualcomm ultraSAW technology achieves superior filter characteristics to deliver high performance in frequencies from 600 MHz to 2.7 GHz with a range of benefits:
- Excellent transmit, receive and cross isolation
- High frequency selectivity
- A Q-factor as high as 5000 or even higher – significantly higher than the quality factor of competing BAW filters
- Very low insertion loss
- Excellent temperature stability with very low temperature drift in the single-digit ppm/Kelvin range.
This allows for more power-efficient RF paths in 5G and 4G multimode mobile devices – and at a lower cost point than competing commercial solutions with similar performance metrics for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
“Our thin-film innovation offers game-changing performance improvements compared to existing BAW technologies,” says Christian Block, senior vice president and general manager, RFFE, QUALCOMM Germany RFFE GmbH. “As the world’s leading wireless technology innovator, Qualcomm continuously pushes the boundaries of what’s possible in mobile technology. With growing filter content in 5G designs, our OEM customers are excited about the attractive combination of higher filter performance and lower cost that Qualcomm ultraSAW enables.”
Qualcomm ultraSAW serves as a key technology for driving the performance of Qualcomm Technologies’ cutting-edge RFFE product portfolio and Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 5G Modem-RF Systems further. We are integrating Qualcomm ultraSAW technology across our product line including PA modules (PAMiD), front-end modules (FEMiD), diversity modules (DRx), Wi-Fi extractors, GNSS extractors and RF multiplexers.
Improved RF performance helps OEMs bring 5G devices with superior connectivity and battery life to consumers. With a lineup of discrete and integrated Qualcomm ultraSAW products beginning production this quarter, OEM flagship devices using the technology are expected to be commercially available in the second half of 2020.
About Qualcomm
Qualcomm is the world’s leading wireless technology innovator and the driving force behind the development, launch, and expansion of 5G. When we connected the phone to the internet, the mobile revolution was born. Today, our foundational technologies enable the mobile ecosystem and are found in every 3G, 4G and 5G smartphone. We bring the benefits of mobile to new industries, including automotive, the internet of things, and computing, and are leading the way to a world where everything and everyone can communicate and interact seamlessly.
Qualcomm Incorporated includes our licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of our patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, substantially all of our engineering, research and development functions, and substantially all of our products and services businesses, including our QCT semiconductor business.
