LTE NB-IOT (NB1) power optimized transceiver for cellular IoT

Overview

Palma Ceia SemiDesign offers a low power, 3GPP Release 14 NB-IOT (LTE Cat NB1) transceiver. The transceiver IP is targeted for the Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) applications.
The transceiver performance conforms to the LTE NB-IOT specification, part of Release 14 from 3GPP for Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) applications that connect large numbers of sensor-type devices. The transceiver operates supporting both high- and low-bands compliant with the 3GPP Rel. 14 specification. The NB-IOT transceiver chip is single mode specifically for the bandwidth per channel and modulation requirements for NB1 and as such provides optimal power for the performance required. The transmitter offers high linearity, high output 1dB compression, high ACR, high power range and low noise. It includes necessary control for Carrier Suppression (CS) including the calibration path through the receiver. The receiver design offers high gain, high linearity, high selectivity, high signal range and low noise figure. The receiver has internal calibration schemes for DC offset correction and provides the necessary control knobs for IQ mismatch correction. The transceiver offers a low power profile including the radio and PA for +20dBm output. This solution is immune from reflected power concerns when the VSWR is diminished

Key Features

Meeting the performance requirements of 3GPP LTE Advanced Release 14 for NB-IOT
Support for Low Band (LB), from 699MHz to 960MHz: bands 5, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 26, 28.
Support for High Band (HB), from 1695MHz to 2200MHz: bands 1, 2, 3, 66, 70
Direct conversion receiver with a noise figure of less than 2.5 dB
Highly linear architecture offering operating margin exceeding 3GPP linearity requirements
Self-contained calibration and correction schemes for better performance and high yield
Fully automated DC offset correction and I/Q calibration scheme
Total RX current of 15mA and TX current of 22mA at max power
Targeted 200kHz implementation offers lower power versus LTE-M1 at 1.4MHz

Benefits

Easy link to commercial cellular networks
Low power design for maximizing batter life
Robust performance for the best response in the field
Built-n calibration for maximizing performance
Optimized for NB-IOT 3GPP Release 13 at 200kHz

Block Diagram

Applications

Consumer and Industrial IoT
M2M Communications
Low Power Wide Area Sensor Networks
Wearables
Automotive Vehicle to Infrastructure Communications

Deliverables

GDS
User Documentation
Test Bench

Technical Specifications

Foundry, Node

TSMC 40LP

Maturity

MPW Silicon

Availability

GDS Available Now

TSMC

Pre-Silicon: 40nm LP

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