Renesas Electronics expands its satellite communications product lineup with the launch of a commercially available dual-beam active beamshaper IC product

     Renesas Electronics Group has announced the expansion of its millimeter-wave LNA and Tx BFIC product lineup with the following three new dual-beam active beamforming IC products

     The new IC offers advantages over its competitors in power consumption, noise factor, compact size and ease of integration, and is a key enabling for the next generation of low-delay electronic scanning antennas, which can be widely used in aeronautical communications (IFC), maritime, mobile satellite communications and low Earth orbit (LEO) ground terminals.

     The new F61xx Rx product is the first commercially available dual-beam feature that enables seamless "connect before break" switching or simultaneous multi-satellite and multi-orbit operations across the entire Ku and Ka satellite communication bands. The F61xx provides OEM with flexibility in LNA selection and layout to improve noise factor and system G/T performance. Thanks to these advantages, the product has been used by major satellite communication solution providers and Oems for half-duplex and full-duplex system design, and mass production is expected to begin in 2022.

     "Our customers face three major challenges when moving from mechanical to electronic scanning antennas: thermal management, integration size, and cost performance," said Naveen Yanduru, Vice President, RF Communications, Industrial & Communications, Renesas Electronics. "The new dual-beam F61xx delivers the cost-effective, high-efficiency, low-noise, and compact-size features the industry needs for next-generation low-latency satellite communications, radar, and communications systems that will connect more users in more scenarios."

     The second-generation F61xx dual beam shaper IC addresses the heat dissipation, integration, and cost challenges that designers face as they transition from bulky mechanical scanning antennas to lighter weight, leaner looking active electronically scanning array (AESA) antennas. The new product reduces power consumption, increases on-chip beam-state memory, can achieve dual beam operation (can also be configured as a single beam, can save 40% power consumption), and greatly improve RF performance, becoming a sound sub-6GHz RFIC portfolio and the recently launched 5G millimeter wave product line powerful complement.

     The satellite communications beamforming IC is also part of Renesas Electronics' successful portfolio of new Ku-band satellite communications systems; The portfolio also includes power management and time clock products. Renesas now offers more than 250 "successful product portfolios" of complementary analog, power, clock, and embedded processor products that build easy-to-use architectures, simplify design processes, and help customers significantly reduce design risk for a wide range of applications.