Xilinx recently announced that it has achieved unprecedented integration and architectural innovation for 5G wireless communications by integrating radio frequency (RF)-level analog technology into its 16nm fully programmable MPSoC. This revolutionary All Programmable RFSoC technology integrates discrete data converters into a system, significantly reducing power consumption and package size by 50-75% for 5G Massive-MIMO and millimeter wave wireless backhaul applications.
In 5G technology, large-scale 2D antenna array systems are crucial to improve spectral efficiency and network density. Manufacturers are seeking innovative solutions to meet the stringent requirements of commercial deployments. Xilinx's All Programmable SoC integrates high-performance ADCs and DACs, enabling radio and wireless backhaul units to achieve unprecedented low power consumption and small package size while increasing channel density. The high flexibility of RFSoC devices enables manufacturers to streamline design and development cycles to meet tight timelines for 5G deployment.
Highlights of this integrated 16nm RF data conversion technology include: Direct RF sampling simplifies analog design, improves accuracy, reduces package size, and reduces power consumption. The 12-bit ADC supports up to 4GSPS, provides high channel count, and supports digital down-conversion. The 14-bit DAC supports up to 6.4GSPS, also enables high channel counts, and supports digital upconversion.
Boris Murmann, professor of electrical engineering at Stanford University, noted: "The shift to FinFET technology has improved the performance of analog devices, making it possible to integrate advanced analog RF macrocells." Earl Lum, president of EJL Wireless Research, said: "Xilinx's RFSoC solution This solution is a game changer in the RRU/massive MIMO active antenna array market, positioning Xilinx as the digital solutions provider of choice for current and next-generation 4G, 4.5G and 5G wireless networks."
Liam Madden, vice president of FPGA development and silicon technology at Xilinx, said: "Integrating RF signal processing capabilities into All Programmable SoCs provides our customers with tremendous potential to transform their system architecture. This innovation not only drives our integration Continuous breakthroughs in this field will also effectively help our 5G customers commercially deploy highly differentiated, large-scale Massive-MIMO systems and millimeter-wave backhaul systems. Our new RFSoC architecture emerged as the times require and solves the problems in 5G wireless development. pressing issues."