In what is seen as the main Boost for 5G cellular communication, Samsung has announced that the Foundry division has developed 8-nanometer (NM) process technology for radio frequency chips (RF).
This casting technology will provide a single RF chip solution, specifically for 5G communication. The Samsung RF 8NM RF platform extension is expected to expand the company’s leadership in the 5G semiconductor market from the sub-6GHz to the MMWave application.
Samsung claims its 8NM process will increase power efficiency by 35% and also reduce the chip area of 35% compared to the 14nm process.
The RF chip changes the digital signal from the modem chip into analog, turn it into a radio frequency that we can use, and also transmit it to the modem chip. It consists of a logic circuit area for changes in frequency bands and digital-analog signal conversion, and analog circuit areas for frequency acceptance and amplification.
Hyung Jin Lee, Teacher of the Casting Technology Development Team on Samsung Electronics, said: “When 5G mmwave expands, the Samsung RF 8nm will be a great solution for customers who are looking for old battery life and excellent signal quality on a compact cellular device.”
Samsung said it has developed a new architecture, called RF Extreme Fet (RFEFET), exclusively for 8NM RF which significantly increases the characteristics of RF when using less power.
It claims that this will help reduce the number of transistors and power consumption, while reducing the analog circuit area.
Samsung first started the RF casting service in 2015 with a 28nm process. Then produce 14nm-based RF. The company has sent more than 500 million cellular RF chips for premium smartphones since 2017.