Microwave Journal
www.microwavejournal.com/articles/23646-integrated-rf-switching-and-microprocessor-in-one-device

Integrated RF Switching and Microprocessor in One Device

January 14, 2015

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The EtherChip™ EC459™ is the world’s first device integrating RF switching and a full-featured microprocessor on a single device, according to Ethertronics.

Embedded in the EC459 are Ethertronics’ proprietary algorithm, and communication and control conduits that enable Active Steering™. The EC459 samples and switches among various antenna radiation patterns, adaptively choosing the best one. Combining the device with an advanced Ethertronics antenna architecture, Ethertronics provides OEMs with an easy-to-integrate, plug-and-play solution. This frees an OEM’s existing operating system or apps processor, since the EC459 handles this for them. No baseband software or hardware modifications are required for product integration.

Active Steering maximizes throughput and reliability in 3G and 4G (LTE and LTE-Advanced), reduces interference, enables seamless hand-off between cell towers, and provides connection reliability and spectral efficiency. Active Steering demonstrated a 30 percent improvement in spectral efficiency during recent trials on two Tier One LTE carrier networks in the United States and Europe.

The EC459 operates from 100 to 6000 MHz, supporting the
GSM/W-CDMA/LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, RFID and GPS bands. The device features a flexible control interface that is customizable among SPI, I2C, UART and USART protocols, providing flexibility and speeding integration and testing. The EC459 is packaged in a 4 × 4 × 0.65 mm3 QFN.

Worldwide application support and user development tools are available, including an evaluation board, antenna reference design, host firmware driver and PC control software with driver.

Ethertronics Inc.
San Diego, Calif.
www.ethertronics.com