Mobile Experts has released a report that tracks the rapidly transforming RF Semiconductor market. According to the report, Massive MIMO is the main driver of the change, giving the RF semiconductor market a significant boost. The reason behind this is that there is a significant increase in the number of transceivers required for Massive MIMO - As each RF path requires a separate transceiver. In addition, integration of data converters (ADCs and DACs) with the primary FPGA or ASIC processor has dramatically changed the architecture of a typical remote radio head.
The traditional separation between digital processing and data converters has also been bridged, and now the RFSoC is quickly taking over the block diagram. This trend is not universal, so there are key markets with diverging architectures. The new report illustrates how integration has impacted some market segments and how other segments will follow a different path. The sales of RFSoCs are expected to double from 2018 to 2020.
According to the report, the 5G ramp has arrived. Strong deployment in key Asian countries has ramped up semiconductor shipments forcefully in the first half of 2019. In particular, the report highlights the confusion surrounding Huawei and their buildup of inventory for the 5G ramp, with two key scenarios highlighted for the possible outcome of the Huawei trade-war battle.
According to Principal Analyst at Mobile Experts, Joe Madden, the old rules about ASICs and FPGAs have changed. Now that Massive MIMO is on the scene, RRH is going through a major reformation in technology. The industry has been pretty stable, with every OEM using similar ASICs, FPGAs, Doherty devices, DPD, and ADCs/DACs from two major vendors. It was in danger of boring analysts to death. Shifting to 5G and Massive MIMO is shaking things up again.
Click here for the full report.
