MaxLinear declared that at MWC 2025, it will demonstrate its full Open RAN Radio Unit (O-RU) solution, the highly integrated “Sierra” Radio System on Chip SoC.
The demonstration reveals Sierra as a revolutionary new silicon platform that allows radio vendors to quickly and affordably create new O-RUs with reduced weight, size, and energy efficiency as well as maximum system reuse for all types of radio unit (RU) applications, including small cell, massive multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO), and traditional macro.
Sierra will be shown by MaxLinear linearizing four distinct radio frequency (RF) power amplifiers (PAs) at the same time.
The PAs come from four distinct PA technology providers employing various high-power silicon processes, operate in both the Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TTD) bands, and have four different output power levels ranging from 100W macro to 1W small cell.
The following MaxLinear PAs are being linearized:
- RFHIC’s 100W ID19801D GaN power amplifier module
- Macom’s 55W GTRB384608 GaN power amplifier
- NXP’s 9W A5M36TG140 Airfast® LDMOS and GaN power amplifier module
- Skyworks’ 1W SKY66525-11 GaAs power amplifier
Leadership Comments
“MaxLinear’s advanced linearization technology, when combined with RFHIC’s GaN transistors, delivers superior linearity in power amplifiers while optimizing efficiency by balancing resource allocation for enhanced performance. This integration enables exceptional wideband signal analysis, ensuring seamless compliance with stringent communications standards,” said Lucas Oh, Director of Telecommunications Business Division of RFHIC.
“Showcasing its very high efficiency and compact form, our SKY66525-11 power amplifier and the SKY6652x family of power amplifiers deliver excellent performance for the key 5G TDD frequency bands, making them a good match to support Sierra’s digital predistortion performance,” said Aroonchat Chatchaikarn, senior director of product marketing at Skyworks. “We’re proud to partner with MaxLinear on this demo at MWC 2025 featuring our PAs that can be used in applications from traditional base stations to Massive MIMO and more.”
