NETPark, Sedgefield, UK — 23 July 2020 — Filtronic plc (AIM: FTC), the designer and manufacturer of RF, microwave, and mmWave products for the wireless telecoms, mission-critical communications and defence applications markets, today announced that it has now shipped a total of 50,000 high-performance E-band transceiver modules targeted at the growing 5G backhaul market.

E-band spectrum (in the mmWave frequency ranges 71 – 76GHz and 81 – 86GHz) offers OEMs wide bandwidth, enabling them to provide 5G mobile network operators with high-capacity and high data rate backhaul, midhaul and front-haul (collectively known as XHaul). E-band has been identified as one of the critical wireless technologies required to address the demanding XHaul capacity requirements of 5G networks, and is now experiencing significant growth. Systems containing Filtronic’s core E-band technology have been successfully demonstrated at data rates up to 40Gbps.

“There has been a record demand this year for our flagship E-band transceiver module, Orpheus, which has been delivered in volume to a number of customers for integration into high-capacity mobile backhaul radio solutions,” said Reg Gott, Executive Chairman of Filtronic. “Earlier this year we added the new-generation Morpheus II to our product range, and demand for this module is beginning to take off as well, in particular for the high power option that is desirable for implementing carrier aggregation.”

Both Morpheus II and Orpheus have a highly-integrated architecture with an embedded diplexer and are 100% tested prior to despatch. They contain all the necessary RF transmit and receive functions for an E-band radio link, enabling the module to simply drop in between the antenna and baseband modem, and include a control board that calibrates the whole RF system. Morpheus II also incorporates a new generation of highly linear, high-power amplifier MMICs that have been developed in house by Filtronic. Both products have been qualified for deployment in the latest radio platforms specifically developed for 5G XHaul applications, and Filtronic transceiver modules have been widely deployed and field-proven in wide-bandwidth, high-capacity applications up to 10Gbps per channel.

Filtronic’s leading-edge E-band solutions feature a readily-configurable architecture, and provide an ideal platform to develop systems for other applications globally. These include long-range defence, enterprise, and both high-throughput Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites and High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS).

Editorial contact details:
Walter Magiera, Chief Commercial Officer, Filtronic plc
Email: marketing@filtronic.com
Web: www.filtronic.com
PR contact:

Helen Duncan, MWE Media Ltd
Tel: +44 (0)7765 250610 Email: helen.duncan@mwemedia.com

About Filtronic:
Filtronic plc is a designer and manufacturer of advanced RF communications products, supplying leading Original Equipment Manufacturers and Mobile Network Operators in the mobile telecommunications infrastructure and mission-critical communications markets.

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SALISBURY, Md. — 6 May 2020 — Filtronic plc (AIM: FTC), the designer and manufacturer of RF, microwave, and mmWave products for the wireless telecoms and mission-critical communications markets, today announced the launch of a range of Tower Top Amplifier (TTA) systems designed for use in two-way radio networks, particularly for public safety systems such as P25.

Filtronic’s “SGG” Series TTA systems operate in the 700MHz and 800MHz public safety bands. The SAC Tower Amplifiers combined with the SEG Control Units (CU) provide a high-performance, lightweight, integrated tower top system solution for mission-critical radio networks. A key feature is smart redundancy, which continuously monitors the health of the balanced quadrature-coupled amplifiers—in the case of a failure in one of the amplifiers, the system can continue to operate using the redundant amplifier. If both amplifiers are compromised, the system can operate in a fallback-mode.

The TTA system features gain flatness across the band typically less than 0.5 dB, a third order intermodulation of greater than +13dBm and a noise figure of typically less than 2.5dB. This gives radio system operators the confidence knowing their mission-critical networks will reliably operate with resilient connections and higher quality audio, especially in congested environments.”

“These new Filtronic TTA systems are among the few tower top amplifiers on the market that are fully compliant with the most stringent public safety RF specifications,” said Walter Magiera, Chief Commercial Officer of Filtronic. “The amplifiers have excellent system flatness across the passband and low system noise figure, while retaining linearity and out-of-band rejection. This provides optimum inbound coverage and dependable performance in mission-critical applications.”

The compact TTA units measure approximately 9 x 6.8 x 2 inches (229 x 173 x 51 mm) and weigh less than 3.6kg (8 lb). The 19” 1 RU rack-mounted SEG units are available in a multicoupler model with eight output ports, expandable to either 16 or 32 ports using optional expansion kits.

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LEEDS, UK — 13 February 2020 — Filtronic plc (AIM: FTC), the designer and manufacturer of RF, microwave, and mmWave products for the wireless telecoms, mission-critical communications and defence applications markets, today announced the launch of Morpheus II, its new generation of mmWave transceiver modules for E-band (71 – 76GHz and 81 – 86 GHz) applications in carrier grade mobile backhaul.

Morpheus II is based on Filtronic’s proven E-band transceiver platform, of which over 36,000 units have already been shipped and deployed worldwide. Each fully-integrated Morpheus II transceiver module contains all the transmit and receive functions necessary for the RF section of an E-band radio link, and provides a simple connection to a high data rate full-duplex modem. They are designed for easy incorporation into outdoor units, giving original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) the advantage of a rapid time-to-market while requiring minimal engineering resource.

Demand for E-band mmWave radio links is growing rapidly, as they can provide high capacity and high data rate XHaul for the latest 5G networks that are being rolled out globally. In 2018 E-band accounted for around 7% of wireless links, and is forecast to continue with year-on-year growth rates of around 36%, according to Dell’Oro Group.

Standard modules have a linear transmitter power control range of -4dBm to +16dBm, with an output third order intermodulation product (IP3) of typically up to +34dBm at the top end of the range. An enhanced power option, extending the control range up to +25dBm, is also available. With a low phase noise of ‑112dBc/Hz at 1MHz, the transceiver modules support a channel bandwidth in excess of 2GHz. They have demonstrated system performance at data rates of 10Gb/s with spectrally efficient 256QAM, and are capable of supporting even higher order modulation schemes. The internal low phase noise VCOs can be adjusted via an SPI interface in 31.25MHz steps, to support ECC/ITU channel arrangements.

A single transmit/receive interface is provided by the integrated diplexer, which connects directly to an external antenna via a standard WR12 interface. The interface between the Morpheus II E-band module and the customer modem is via a single 50-way connector that supplies all communication between the module and the modem, as well as DC power, baseband data and control signals.

With a footprint of 90 x 80mm and weighing only 110g, the Morpheus II transceiver modules are 20% smaller and 50% lighter than the current Orpheus models, with which they retain interface compatibility.

“Morpheus II transceiver modules are 100% calibrated and tested, and are based on a platform that has extensive field-proven performance,” said Dan Rhodes, Director of Business Development ‒ mmWave Technology at Filtronic. “Their compact form factor makes them suitable for use in all types of mmWave XHaul applications, and their readily reconfigurable architecture also provides the ideal basis from which to develop systems for application in high throughput satellites and High Altitude Pseudo-Satellites (HAPS).”

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