NORWOOD, MA /BUSINESS WIRE/ -- Analog Devices Inc. (ADI), a global leader in high-performance semiconductors for signal-processing applications, unveiled the latest addition to its award-winning family of Othello radios, the Othello-3. This CMOS RF transceiver provides a complete solution for 3G mobile terminals based on the W-CDMA air interface standard. Leveraging ADI's Othello direct-conversion architecture and an innovative low-noise transmitter, the Othello-3 (AD6551) transceiver eliminates the need for transmit-path surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters. In addition to simplifying the RF section in 3G mobile terminals, Othello-3 "reduces board space by 40% over competing solutions"—key drivers to delivering smaller, more cost-effective 3G handsets. The Othello-3 transceiver will be demonstrated at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, February 12-15, 2007 (ADI booth1C58 located at Hall 1).
"Following on the success of our Othello-G chipset, which significantly decreased the size of the radio in GSM/GPRS, we are now able to reduce board space in W-CDMA terminals to a mere 5 square centimeters—less than one square inch," said Christian Kermarrec, Vice President, RF and Wireless Systems, Analog Devices Inc. "Our innovative technique to reducing the component count of a typical RF front end translates into lower cost, easier-to-implement solutions, thereby driving the proliferation of highly-integrated, feature-rich, W-CDMA handsets."
According to research and consulting firm Strategy Analytics, the worldwide market for W-CDMA handsets is expected to nearly double, from 90 million units to 161 million units in 2007.
Othello-3 expands ADI's portfolio of award-winning direct-conversion radios, which includes Othello-E (supporting EDGE) and Othello-G (supporting GSM/GPRS). Othello-3 supports full quad-band operation and integrates virtually all the necessary components for a complete cellular handset radio design, such as voltage-controlled oscillators and the associated tank circuits, loop filters, and power-management circuitry. The device also features a low-noise transmitter architecture, eliminating the need for transmit-path SAW filters, which are usually needed to prevent transmitter noise from interfering with the receiver in full-duplex operation. In doing so, Othello-3 "significantly reduces cost and board space compared with existing RF transceiver solutions" and complements the Analog Devices SoftFone-W baseband chipset for W-CDMA handsets.
About Analog Devices' Othello-3 Transceiver
The Othello-3 transceiver provides a complete transmit/receive solution for W-CDMA-based mobile terminals. The receiver section includes high-performance, single-ended low-noise amplifiers for two high bands (1710 MHz to 2170 MHz) and one low band (824 MHz to 960 MHz). Direct-downconverting quadrature mixers driven by an on-chip fractional PLL synthesizer deliver baseband in-phase and quadrature signals to a variable-gain amplifier (VGA) and programmable low-pass filter stages with dc offset correction.
The transmitter section consists of a fractional PLL synthesizer, high performance VGAs and quadrature modulators for high- and low-band outputs, and a root-mean-square (rms) RF power detector and on-chip digital-to-analog converter for power amplifier control.
Availability
Othello-3 (AD6551) is sampling now in a 6 mm by 6 mm 40-lead lead-frame chip scale package. For pricing information, please contact local Analog Devices sales offices.
About Analog Devices in Wireless Handsets
As a leading supplier of components to the cellular handset industry since 1990, Analog Devices has built a portfolio of solutions for mobile devices that leverages high-performance analog and DSP core technology. As customer needs have evolved, ADI's wireless terminal product portfolio has advanced from DSP and analog building-block components to highly integrated chipsets and turnkey reference designs. Included in the company's vast array of technologies for wireless terminals are sophisticated digital baseband processors, advanced analog and mixed-signal data conversion, power management, lens drivers, analog interface ICs, radio frequency ICs, RF power detectors, and MEMS-based sensors. These products include a number of industry firsts, such as the Othello family—the "world's first" open-market direct-conversion radio; and Analog Devices' SoftFone platform, the "first" RAM-based digital baseband processor, which enables wireless-terminal device manufacturers to easily customize user features and options entirely in software while incorporating "breakthrough advancements" in power consumption, cost, and size. Analog Devices' wireless chipsets leverage the company's high-performance signal-processing expertise and are designed with a unique systems-understanding approach.
About Analog Devices Inc.
Innovation, performance, and excellence are the cultural pillars on which Analog Devices has built one of the "longest standing, highest growth companies" within the technology sector. Acknowledged industrywide as the "world leader" in data-conversion and signal-conditioning technology, Analog Devices serves over 60,000 customers, representing virtually all types of electronic equipment. Celebrating 40 years as a leading global manufacturer of high-performance integrated circuits used in analog and digital signal processing applications, Analog Devices is headquartered in Norwood, MA, with design and manufacturing facilities throughout the world.
For additional information, contact Brad Langley, Porter Novelli, at 408-369-4600, x636, or [email protected].