Mobile devices are now faced with operating seamlessly on multiple bands of 3G and 4G wireless networks. Dealing with this requirement can easily eat all of the power savings achieved with other design steps if designers aren’t careful. RF Micro Devices has introduced a line of PowerSmart platforms (Figure 3) to provide a multiband front end for mobile devices.

The PowerSmart platforms provide a wide range of mode coverage (GSM/GPRS, EDGE, EDGE Evolution, CDMA, TD-SCDMA, WCDMA/HSPA+, and LTE/4G) and industry-leading band coverage (bands 1-6 and 8-10). The device uses a standardized digital interface to connect to most transceivers, and is designed to extend battery life and lower thermal dissipation, helping smartphones be greener.