MACOM Demonstrates “RF Energy Toolkit”: Accelerates Customers’ Time-to-Market with High Performance, Cost Effective GaN on Si-based RF Systems for Commercial Applications

  • Hardware and software kit enables faster and easier solid-state RF
    system development
  • Optimized for use by commercial manufacturers of cooking, lighting,
    industrial heating/drying, medical/pharmaceutical and automotive
    ignition systems
  • Enables system designers to take advantage of GaN on Si performance
    at LDMOS price points
  • Live beta demonstration at IMS, with customer availability in Fall
    2017

LOWELL, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–MACOM
Technology Solutions Inc.
(“MACOM”) today unveiled a development kit
targeted to help commercial OEMs quickly and easily adapt their product
designs to incorporate GaN-based RF energy sources for a wide range of
applications spanning cooking, lighting, industrial heating/drying,
medical/pharmaceutical, automotive ignition systems and beyond.
Leveraging solid-state RF energy as a highly efficient and precise
energy source, commercial OEMs are poised to achieve new levels of
performance and affordability for future product generations.


MACOM’s new RF Energy Toolkit, Beta version available today, helps
system designers simplify and accelerate their product development
cycles by making it easy for them to fine tune RF energy output levels
to maximize efficiency and performance. Combining the benefits of
MACOM’s GaN on Si power transistors with intuitive, flexible software
and signal control capabilities, MACOM’s RF Energy Toolkit takes the
guesswork out of the RF power source design and enables faster time to
market.

The MACOM GaN on Si power transistors supplied with the RF Energy
Toolkit deliver up to 10% greater power efficiency than comparably
priced LDMOS-based transistors – this is a major benefit for continuous
wave RF energy applications, where every incremental gain in power
efficiency translates to less power consumption and lower operating
costs over sustained usage. System designers can select from a range of
MACOM power transistors to meet power level requirements spanning from
30W to 1000W, and the Toolkit supports coherent channel operation
allowing multiple RF energy channels to be easily combined, for example
3x300W or 2x500W etc. Supported frequency bands range from 915MHz to
2.45GHz.

“Commercial OEMs are eager to seize the massive market opportunity for
higher-performing RF energy-based systems enabled by GaN on Si, but they
don’t want to invest the resources to architect the RF power elements
themselves,” said Mark Murphy, Senior Director, RF Power at MACOM. “The
RF Energy Toolkit lifts this design burden from the OEMs, and will help
them get to market faster with their RF energy-based systems by
providing an affordable, easy to use platform that streamlines system
design and lowers development costs.”

“The current RF Energy Toolkit offers the industry ‘a first’ in a number
of ways: The kit is an easy-to-use, compact, very flexible controller
that can run all alone based on a very fast, hardware based reflection
coefficient optimization scheme,” said Klaus Werner, Managing Director,
pinkRF – a MACOM design partner. “Alternatively, the kit can run complex
recipes alone or in conjunction with other controllers, programmed
remotely or embedded with any number of RF vectors (power, phase,
frequency, time, energy) to control complex or variable processes. The
tool hooks up to the power amplifier – no special integration is needed.
I view it as an RF Energy engineer’s ‘Swiss army knife’ to master,
optimize and industrialize RF energy applications and their associated
controllers.”

Beta-version RF Energy Toolkits are available to qualified customers
today, with broader availability planned in the Fall of 2017. MACOM will
showcase its new RF Energy Toolkit and industry leading GaN on Si
product portfolio this week at IEEE’s International Microwave Symposium
(IMS) 2017 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Attendees are invited to visit MACOM at
booth #1312. For more information on MACOM’s RF Energy initiatives,
visit: https://www.macom.com/rfenergy

ABOUT MACOM:
MACOM is a new breed of analog semiconductor
company — one that delivers a unique combination of high growth,
diversification and high profitability. We are enabling a
better-connected and safer world by delivering breakthrough
semiconductor technologies for optical, wireless and satellite networks
that satisfy society’s insatiable demand for information.

Today, MACOM powers the infrastructure that millions of lives and
livelihoods depend on every minute to communicate, transact business,
travel, stay informed and be entertained. Our technology increases the
speed and coverage of the mobile Internet and enables fiber optic
networks to carry previously unimaginable volumes of traffic to
businesses, homes and data centers.

Keeping us all safe, MACOM technology enables next-generation radars for
air traffic control and weather forecasting, as well as mission success
on the modern networked battlefield.

MACOM is the partner of choice to the world’s leading communications
infrastructure and aerospace and defense companies, helping solve their
most complex challenges in areas including network capacity, signal
coverage, energy efficiency, and field reliability, through its
best-in-class team and broad portfolio of RF, microwave, millimeterwave
and lightwave semiconductor products.

MACOM is a pillar of the semiconductor industry, thriving for more than
60 years of daring to change the world for the better through bold
technological strokes that deliver true competitive advantage to
customers and superior value to investors.

Headquartered in Lowell, Massachusetts, MACOM is certified to the
ISO9001 international quality standard and ISO14001 environmental
management standard. MACOM has design centers and sales offices
throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

MACOM, M/A-COM, M/A-COM Technology Solutions, M/A-COM Tech, Partners in
RF & Microwave, The First Name in Microwave and related logos are
trademarks of MACOM. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.

For more information about MACOM, please visit www.macom.com follow @MACOMtweets on
Twitter, join MACOM on LinkedIn,
or visit the MACOM YouTube
Channel
.

DISCLAIMER FOR NEW PRODUCTS:
Any express or implied
statements in MACOM product announcements are not meant as warranties or
warrantable specifications of any kind. The only warranty MACOM may
offer with respect to any product sale is one contained in a written
purchase agreement between MACOM and the purchaser concerning such sale
and signed by a duly authorized MACOM employee, or, to the extent
MACOM’s purchase order acknowledgment so indicates, the limited warranty
contained in MACOM’s standard Terms and Conditions for Quotation or
Sale, a copy of which may be found at: www.macom.com/support.

Contacts

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or
MACOM
MEDIA CONTACTS:

MACOM Technology Solutions Inc.
Ozzie
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[email protected]
or
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or
embedded
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