Widespread adoption of higher order modulation schemes to enable higher data throughput in communication links places increasingly stringent demands on the frontend. Classic linearity metrics, figures of merit or rules-of-thumb for frontend components (e.g. IP3 or "operating at 20dB back off from P-1dB") become decreasingly relevant and may even be misleading.
In some industries and applications, frontend linearization has long been identified as a critical differentiator. In those applications with their particular industry dynamics, designing a linearized RF frontend or even using a specific linearized architecture is now pre-requisite.
In many industries and applications, rapidly improving component technologies coupled with increasingly demanding modulation formats means that a significant gap has opened up between state-of-the-art and potential. That gap can be bridged, at least in part, by considering the use of linearization. This subject matter will become the target of significant R&D spending in a wider range of applications.
