CIE Components in Electronics
Peregrine Semiconductor, a fabless provider of high-performance radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), has unveiled what is says is the highest performance, carrier-grade Wi-Fi switch currently on the market. The switch targets the fast-growing market for 802.11ac Wi-Fi access points.
“Mobile Experts’ research shows the number of carrier-grade Wi-Fi access points deployed has grown 40 percent this year alone,” said Joe Madden, founder and principal analyst at Mobile Experts. “With the Wi-Fi market shift to dual-band 802.11ac support, we predict the market for RF suppliers – such as Peregrine – will grow even faster at a rate of 50 percent annually through 2016.”
The rising amount of cellular-data offload to Wi-Fi networks is significantly increasing the complexity of access-point radios. Most Wi-Fi access points now contain multiple radios in order to address the capacity demands of cellular data.
Based on Peregrine’s UltraCMOS technology, the PE42423 is the first in its class to offer 41 dB of port-to-port isolation at 6 GHz. This best-in-class isolation enables multi-radio access points to perform at peak levels without interference between the radios. Exceeding the stringent 802.11ac standard, Peregrine’s switch also offers 65 dBm of linearity to achieve higher data rates.
In addition, UltraCMOS technology delivers equally high performance at either 3.3V or 5V, unlike gallium arsenide (GaAs) switches that experience severe performance degradation below 5V. Peregrine’s switch gives networking-product designers the flexibility to operate at lower power supplies and reduce energy consumption.
“Peregrine’s long-standing leadership in RF switches, combined with our UltraCMOS technology, has enabled us to develop the highest performance, carrier-grade Wi-Fi switch on the market,” said Dave Shepard, vice president of Peregrine’s high-performance solutions business unit. “We’re committed to meeting the Wi-Fi data-rate and capacity demands of the future, and we are already helping networking vendors achieve unprecedented performance using this switch in their Gigabit Wi-Fi access points.”
