Quantance begins delivering third-generation 4G/LTE envelope tracking power supply to baseband/transceiver chipset providers

June 26, 2012 // Paul Buckley

Quantance Inc., a manufacturer of ultra-fast, 4G envelope tracking (ET) power supplies, has delivered product samples of the company's third-generation chip, the Q845 ET power supply, to several major players in the LTE supply chain.

Companies supplied with the new power supply chip include baseband/transceiver chipset providers and handset OEMs.

The Q845 features Quantance’s patented qBoost ET technology, an efficient, boosting ET architecture that enables power amplifier (PA) efficiency to reach theoretical limits, and at the same time, increases PA transmit power.

The Q845 supports ET operation up to 20 MHz LTE, providing the response time equivalent of a 400 MHz switcher for ET systems. As a result, the Q845 is more than 100 times faster than any other mobile ET power supply solution available today. Quantance claims the ultra-fast performance, along with a standards-based interface and tiny application footprint, sets a new industry standard for performance, size and integration simplicity.

The need for effective ET solutions has accelerated in the past year, driven by the explosive growth in high-speed data and the rush to mass-market adoption of 4G/LTE in mobile devices. Because ET provides PA efficiency and transmit power improvements critical to enhancing battery life, reducing heat and ensuring maximum 4G/LTE wireless system performance, most mainstream baseband/transceiver chipset providers and handset OEMs are planning to integrate ET solutions in their platforms this year.

“We are already deep in the process of integrating our qBoost-enabled products into baseband chipset platforms and high-speed mobile data devices,” said Vikas Vinayak, Quantance’s CEO and co-founder.  “The industrywide interest in our chip is a strong indicator that the 4G/LTE market will depend heavily on ET to achieve maximum speed, coverage and battery life.”

The Q845 uses a patented combination of switching and linear power supplies inside a single 0.18um CMOS chip to efficiently deliver precisely controlled voltage to the PA, thus optimizing its performance.  For maximum output power and high power efficiency, Q845 operates in ET mode, changing the PA voltage instantaneously to track the modulation envelope of the transmitted signal and, when needed, efficiently boosting above the battery voltage to deliver extra linear power otherwise unachievable by the PA alone. To maintain efficiency in mid- and low-power PA operation, the Q845 transitions seamlessly to its average power tracking (APT) mode, where the voltage is changed at a slower rate, yet still maintains the PA at its peak efficiency.

The Q845 plans compatibility with upcoming standards-based ET control and envelope interfaces. This compatibility enables the Q845 to be openly and seamlessly integrated into any 4G/LTE baseband and transceiver chipset platform targeted for use in smartphones, tablets, mobile hot spots, data cards and other mobile high-speed data devices.  Production product will be available Q4 2012.

Visit Quantance at www.quantance.com

 

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