OREANDA-NEWS. March 16, 2011. Semiconductor Company of Panasonic Corporation has developed the industry's first VHF/UHF low-noise amplifiers (LNA) (part numbers: AN26072A and AN26021A) for mobile devices to operate at voltages as low as 1.7 V. The company will begin sample shipments at the end of March 2011.

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) LSIs, that receive signals from an LNA, have adopted the finer processes and have reduced the power supply voltage. This industry trend has eliminated 2.8 V power supplies as the standard power supply within a mobile terminal. Moreover, conventional LNAs have required separate amplifiers specific to each band of VHF and UHF.

Panasonic's new single-chip LNAs can handle both VHF and UHF bands and operate at low voltages, eliminating the need for a 2.8 V power supply. These Panasonic LNAs allow mobile terminals to receive one-segment broadcasts, multimedia broadcasts, which will start in April 2012 in Japan, and an ATSC-M/H service in North America. The LNAs have also enabled mobile terminals to receive signals even in areas subject to weak radio waves, for a longer time.

The new Panasonic LNAs have the following features:

Low-voltage power supplies
LNAs can be used with a wide range of power supply voltages, from 1.7 to 3.0 V (conventionally 2.7 to 3.0 V). They operate at the terminal's standard voltage (1.8 V) and help reduce costs by eliminating the need for external 2.8 V regulators.
Single-chip LNAs support a wide range of VHF and UHF frequencies (40 to 900 MHz).
The one-chip LNA reduces the number of components required, as well as reduces the size of the mounting board by approximately 40%, thereby allowing mobile terminals to be smaller and more compact.

High-performance characteristics and low power consumption

LNAs use approximately 20% less power. 15% of this was achieved by reducing the power supply voltage and 5% by improving the passband characteristics in the low-gain mode. Good high-frequency characteristics have been achieved with a noise level of 1.3 dB. Thanks to these features, stable signals can be received for a longer time.

The Panasonic LNAs were made possible through the following technologies:

High-frequency circuit technologies that support a wide range of power supply voltages, especially low supply voltages
Technologies that expand the operating frequency range using feedback circuits
Power consumption reduction technologies that offer high performance with low power consumption

Samples will be available at the end of March 2011 at a unit price of 100 yen.

*:Based on Panasonic data as of March 15, 2011