page_title: RF Micro Devices
section_title: Shift to CMOS-based RFICs
hierarchical_section_title: RF Micro Devices / Markets and competitors / Shift to CMOS-based RFICs
caption_attribution_description: English: Huawei E367, O2 Surfstick Plus - RF Micro Devices RF3161 (QUAD-BAND GSM850/GSM900/DCS/PCS POWER AMP MODULE)
context_page_description: RF Micro Devices, was an American company that designed and manufactured high-performance radio frequency systems and solutions for applications that drive wireless and broadband communications. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, RFMD traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol RFMD. The Company was founded in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1991. RF Micro has 3500 employees, 1500 of them in Guilford County, North Carolina.
  The company's products, predominantly radio frequency integrated circuits and packaged modules that utilize them, were used in cellular networks and mobile phones, for wireless connectivity such as wireless LAN, GPS and Bluetooth, in cable modems and cable TV infrastructure, and for other applications including military radar. The most important applications in terms of sales were GaAs-based power amplifiers and antenna control solutions used in mobile phones, WiFi RF front-ends and components used in wireless infrastructure equipment.
  The company announced in February 2014 that it would merge with TriQuint Semiconductor.
context_section_description: As CMOS silicon-based RFICs for wireless applications such as mobile phones have gradually become more competitive (but still inferior) in terms of performance when compared to GaAs (while providing advantages relating to cost and chip integration), they have replaced GaAs products for part of the low-end (2G) power amplifier market as of early 2014. Silicon on insulator technology has already largely replaced GaAs for antenna switch applications, and RFMD has been part of this transition.
  At various times in the past companies have had strong expectations for CMOS-based RFICs such as power amplifiers which failed to materialize. However, Qualcomm, the dominant provider of the silicon chip content in mobile phones, has made significant investments in this area and reported volume shipments of a 3G/4G front-end solution using CMOS-based power amplifier technology in February 2014.
  Proliferation of CMOS-based solutions increases competition from CMOS RF companies such as Peregrine Semiconductor as well as mobile phone SoC and chipset providers such as Qualcomm and others, and has the potential to significantly reduce the addressable market for GaAs-based devices.
  However, companies traditionally focused on GaAs, including RFMD, already use silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology for switches, and have also invested in CMOS technology for power amplifiers. RFMD announced material volume shipment of CMOS PAs in September 2013.
caption: RF3161 (Quad band power amplifier module)
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