July 3, 2012, Seoul — Infineon Technologies (Korea Representative Director Seung-soo Lee) has launched a new series of SiGe:C (Silicon-Germanium: Carbon) hetero-junction bipolar transistor (HBT) devices for Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) applications. The new BFx840xESD series is optimized for consumer wireless products operating in the 5–6 GHz range, including current and next-generation WiFi® access points and modules.

By using the new transistor, designers can improve the performance of the entire WiFi system to achieve both the wider coverage area and very high throughput defined in the upcoming IEEE 802.11ac standard. Additional applications for the new device include WiMAX, UWB wireless, and satellite communication.

Infineon's 8th generation SiGe:C process technology is manufactured with unique power and noise matching capabilities for the 5GHz band, enabling it to achieve the best system performance (18dB gain and 0.96dB noise figure) in WiFi LNA application circuits with only eight external passive components and a single inductor (four fewer than competitors).

“The evolution of Infineon’s SiGe:C portfolio provides designers with the means to achieve RF performance goals in compact, low-power wireless systems,” said Houssem Chouik, Marketing Manager for RF Transistor Solutions at Infineon Technologies. “Based on Infineon’s 8th generation HBT process technology, these new devices exceed the RF performance levels of competitors and reduce costs by decreasing the number of passive components required for system design.”

When measured at the device level, the new BFx840xESD series transistors achieve a maximum gain of 22dB to 23dB and provide a best-in-class noise figure of 0.65dB to 0.85dB in the 5GHz band. This allows engineers to easily achieve an overall system noise figure of less than 2dB. WiFi LNAs using these transistors require only 50% fewer external components than other available solutions.

Key characteristics
The features of the BFx840xESD series that contribute to system reliability and design flexibility are as follows:
• On-chip ESD (electrostatic discharge) protection of up to 1.5kW HBM (human body model) and 20dBm RF power overdrive processing performance
• Operation with a minimum supply voltage of 1.2V without performance degradation is excellent for battery-powered systems.
• Available in three different package types: standard SOT-343, flat-lead TSFP-4-1, and minimum height (0.31 mm) TSLP-3-9 for RF module applications