Capability
Bluetooth and BLE RF transceiver design services
The RF and analog front-end of a Bluetooth Low Energy radio: LNA, mixer, baseband filters and ADC on receive; fractional-N synthesizer; PA and modulation path on transmit. Designed against the Bluetooth Core Specification RF-PHY test cases and your current budget.
Problems we solve
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Sensitivity at a current budget
Receive sensitivity of [NUMBER: to be supplied] dBm at [NUMBER: to be supplied] mA sets the noise figure and the ADC and filter partition. We choose the architecture (low-IF, zero-IF or sliding-IF) for the current target, not from habit.
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Blocking and coexistence
In-band and out-of-band blocking, intermodulation and the co-channel test cases are simulated with the LNA, mixer and filter in one bench, so the receiver holds up next to a Wi-Fi radio on the same board.
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Transmit mask and modulation accuracy
Frequency deviation, drift and the in-band emission mask depend on the synthesizer modulation bandwidth and PA linearity. We close them with two-point modulation and, where the budget needs it, PA pre-distortion.
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Frequency accuracy over temperature
Crystal tolerance, temperature drift and AFC tracking are budgeted so the link stays within ±[NUMBER: to be supplied] ppm across the operating range.
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Porting a radio to a new node
A radio port is a re-design of inductors, varactors, PA and ESD. We re-extract the passives with EM simulation and re-close the link budget rather than copy the schematic.
Typical specifications we have delivered
All figures are shared with supporting data under NDA.
Process nodes
[NODES: process nodes delivered in this area, to be supplied]
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Standard | Bluetooth [VERSION: to be supplied] Low Energy; LE 1M / LE 2M / LE Coded [SUPPORTED: to be confirmed] |
| Frequency band | 2400 – 2483.5 MHz, 40 channels at 2 MHz spacing |
| RX sensitivity | [NUMBER: to be supplied] dBm at LE 1M |
| RX current | [NUMBER: to be supplied] mA at [VOLTAGE: to be supplied] V |
| TX output power | [NUMBER: to be supplied] dBm in [NUMBER: to be supplied] dB steps |
| TX current | [NUMBER: to be supplied] mA at 0 dBm |
| Synthesizer phase noise | [NUMBER: to be supplied] dBc/Hz at [OFFSET: to be supplied] offset |
| Blocking | Per Core Specification RF-PHY test cases, [MARGIN: to be supplied] dB margin |
| Supply range | [VOLTAGE RANGE: to be supplied] V |
| Process nodes | [NODES: process nodes delivered in this area, to be supplied] |
What we deliver
- RF architecture and link budget: gain, NF, IIP3, phase noise and current
- System model of the RF front-end and analog modem path
- Schematics with RF testbenches: S-parameters, NF, IIP3, mask and modulation
- RF layout with EM-extracted passives; DRC/LVS clean
- Verification report across PVT and antenna impedance variation
- RF test plan mapped to Bluetooth RF-PHY test cases
- Bring-up, tuning and pre-qualification support
How we verify
- Harmonic-balance and PSS simulation of gain, NF, IIP3 and 1 dB compression
- EM extraction of inductors, transformers and the PA output network
- Modulation-accuracy simulation of the two-point modulation path
- Blocking and intermodulation test cases per the RF-PHY test specification
- Stability and isolation analysis across antenna impedance variation
Related capabilities
Discuss a BLE radio
Send the target sensitivity, current, output power, node and the digital baseband you plan to pair it with. An RF lead will come back with an architecture proposal and a link budget.