RFMD Ships Pre-Production GaN-Based CATV Hybrid Amplifiers to U.S.-Based CATV Equipment Provider
Source/Type: Reported News

Author: CompoundSemi News Staff

December 14, 2009... RF Micro Devices of Greensboro, North Carolina USA, has begun pre-production shipments of gallium nitride (GaN)-based CATV (cable TV) amplifiers to major U.S.-based CATV equipment provider. RFMD points out that operators of hybrid fiber coax (HFC) networks are installing fiber capacity deeper into their networks ("fiber deep" networks) to address the increasing demand for higher throughput video and broadband services. Accordingly, CATV equipment providers hope to reduce the cost of fiber deep networks through the use of semiconductor devices capable of higher RF output levels than those of state-of-the-art GaAs-based devices.

RFMD contends that its GaN-based devices can reduce the number of amplifiers required in emerging architectures, also known as N+1 architectures, and achieve up to 20-percent cost savings in fiber deep networks. RFMD says its initial GaN shipments to this CATV customer are for optical nodes, and subsequent shipments are also expected to be used in line extender amplifier applications. The company expects to begin volume production in the first half of calendar 2010.

"We are excited to announce pre-production shipments of our GaN-based CATV hybrid amplifiers to this major CATV customer," said Alastair Upton, general manager of RFMD's Broadband Components business unit. "With our GaN semiconductor expertise and our world-class CATV manufacturing capability, RFMD is uniquely positioned to bring the next generation of high-performance CATV amplifiers to the CATV equipment market." Company News Release

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