SiGe Semiconductor has released the SE2568U ISM band power amplifier targeted at embedded 2.4GHz wireless LAN. The device is sampling now, priced at US $0.38 in 10k quantities. Director product marketing WiMAX and embedded WLAN, Sanjiv Shah, said: Current solutions require up to 15 external components for matching and filtering to get equivalent performance, but the SE2568U PA requires only three external capacitors. This significantly reduces device and bill of materials and board assembly costs as well as the overall system footprint.
Drawing just 120mA while delivering +18dBm output power at 3% EVM, the device suits applications where size and current consumption are a premium, specifically WLAN enabled cell phones and portable devices.