US : ANADIGICS introduced a new quad-band Linear EDGE (Enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution) power amplifier module for 2.75G and 3G cell phones, PDAs, and wireless PC cards that use the globally-accepted GSM/EDGE cellular standard.

ANADIGICS is a leading provider of semiconductor solutions in the rapidly growing broadband wireless and wireline communications markets. Its broadband wireless products serve all global third-generation (3G) and fourth-generation (4G) standards as well as the WiFi connectivity market.

The EDGE standard has been adopted by most GSM operators worldwide either in combination with UMTS WCMDA (3G) or as a stand-alone upgrade (2.75G) to the GSM/GRPS (2.5G) system. There are two predominant hardware architectures adopted by baseband chipset suppliers serving the EDGE market -- Polar and Linear. The AWT6172 is a quad-band GPRS/EDGE power amplifier module designed for the linear EDGE architecture adopted by several base-band chipset suppliers. ANADIGICS has also announced products for the Polar EDGE architecture adopted by top-tier 3G chipset suppliers.

"ANADIGICS continues to add to its comprehensive portfolio of products for the exciting 3G WCDMA & EDGE markets," said Dr. Ali Khatibzadeh, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Wireless Products at ANADIGICS. "With the introduction of AWT6172 Linear EDGE power amplifier, ANADIGICS extends its reach beyond Polar EDGE and WEDGE markets. It will also enable us to participate in the other segment of 3G market served by chipset suppliers using the linear EDGE architecture."

ANADIGICS AWT6172 supports operation in the GSM850, GSM900, DCS, and PCS bands. The ANADIGICS AWT6172 delivers efficiencies of up to 55% in GMSK mode for longer talk-time, with a linearity of 64 dBc ACPR at 28.5 dBm output power level, making it especially attractive to handset makers.

Featured in a small 6 x 6 x 1.1 mm package, the AWT6172 power amplifier module is built on InGaP-Plus(TM) HBT technology, and is EGPRS capable (class 12). Saturated output power in GMSK mode is rated at +35 dBm in the GSM850/900 bands, and at +33 dBm in the DCS/PCS bands. Efficiencies for these two bands are 55% and 50% respectively. Comparable numbers for EDGE linear power are +28.5 dBm and +27.5 dBm for GSM850/900 and DCS bands respectively.