Samsung has announced the availability of its 5G RF ICs (RFICs) for commercial use. These chips are key components in the production and commercialization of a new generation of base stations and other radio-enabled products.
"Samsung has been working for several years to develop various types of core technologies compatible with 5G RFIC," said Paul Kyungwhoon Cheun, executive vice president and director of the next-generation communication technology development team at Samsung Electronics.
“We are excited to finally put all the pieces of the puzzle together and announce this important milestone on the road to commercial 5G deployment. It will play an important role in the coming revolution in connectivity.”
The RFIC chips themselves are designed to enhance the overall performance of 5G access units (5G base stations), and a strong emphasis is placed on developing low-cost, highly efficient and compact forms. Each of these criteria will play a critical role in ensuring the promising performance of the 5G network.
The RFIC chips feature a high-gain/high-efficiency amplifier, a technology introduced by Samsung back in June of last year. Thanks to this, the chip can provide greater coverage in the millimeter wave (mmWave) band, thereby overcoming one of the fundamental challenges of the high-frequency spectrum.
At the same time, RFIC chips are able to significantly improve transmission and reception. They can reduce phase noise in their operating band and convey a cleaner radio signal even in noisy environments where a loss of signal quality would otherwise interfere with high-speed communications. The finished chip is a compact chain of 16 low-loss antennas that further extend the overall efficiency and performance.
The chips will first be used in the 28 GHz mmWave band, which is quickly becoming the primary target for the first 5G network in the US, Korean and Japanese markets. Now Samsung is mainly focusing on the commercial use of products capable of operating in the 5G network, the first of which should be rebuilt early next year.
