Mitsubishi Electric began shipping samples of 8W and 14W gallium nitride (GaN) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) power amplifiers for use in Ka-band satellite-communication (SATCOM) earth stations from July 1.
While the mainstream frequency for satellite communications is currently the Ku-band (13GHz to 14GHz), the higher frequency Ka-band (27.5GHz to 31GHz) offers multi-beam technology and much wider bandwidth for transmitting more data.
By adding more Ka-band products to its lineup, Mitsubishi Electric expects to meet the growing demand for high-capacity communications and contribute to smaller and more power-efficient satellite communications earth stations.
The two new GaN MMIC power amplifiers will be shipped as customer-board-friendly bare chips. Suitable for emergency communications and Ka-band multi-carrier communications, they will support the power levels and frequencies required for Ka-band satellite communications transmitters capable of handling large amounts of data.
In addition, thanks to a new GaN HEMT with high-output, high-efficiency, Mitsubishi Electric’s new chips achieve unsurpassed miniaturization and increased power added efficiency of more than 20% at maximum linear power.
