Greensboro, North Carolina-based RF Micro Devices, Inc, (RFMD (News - Alert)), a manufacturer of radio frequency components, is introducing a highly-integrated, single front-end module (FEM) for advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and smart grid applications this week at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show (CES (News - Alert)) in Las Vegas.

RFMD's single-chip RFFM6403 FEM reduces customer design time, and supports enhanced connectivity and wireless functionality—thereby hastening time-to-market in smart energy/AMI applications operating in the 405MHz and 475MHz industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) radio bands.

The new FEM integrates a power amplifier (PA), transmit (Tx) filtering, input and output switches; a Tx or receive (Rx) attenuation path; and a low-noise amplifier (LNA) with bypass mode. Specifically, the feature-rich RFFM6403 integrates a transmitter (Tx) high power path with a +30.5dBm power amplifier (PA) and Tx harmonic output filtering, a transmit bypass thru path with Tx harmonic output filtering, and a receiver path with a low noise amplifier (LNA) with bypass mode. The FEM also features a low-insertion loss/high-isolation SP3T switch and separate receiver/transmitter 50 ohm ports, simplifying matching and providing input and output signals for both the transmitter and receiver paths.

The RFFM6403 is designed for AMI systems operating with high efficiency requirements and a minimum output power of 30 dBm (News - Alert) (power ratio in decibels referenced to one miliwatt). In the receive path, the receiver chain provides 16 decibels of typical gain with only five mA (milliamperes) of current and an excellent noise figure of 1.7 decibels. The high level of integration and industry-leading form factor (6mm x 6mm x 1mm) minimize product footprint at the customer device while reducing external component count and associated assembly costs.

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