Silicon Laboratories Intros Aero+ Transceiver

Silicon Laboratories Inc. (Austin, TX) introduced its new Aero+ GSM/GPRS transceiver, which integrates a digitally controlled crystal oscillator (DCXO) and eliminates the need for a VC-TCXO to reduce board space and component count in mobile phones.

The addition of the DCXO enables handset developers to use low-cost crystal resonators instead of larger and more expensive VC-TCXO modules. The transceiver also integrates the IF SAW filter, external LNA, transmit and RF VCO modules, and more than 60 other discrete components. The Aero+ is also claimed to offer compatibility with current base-band subsystems, minimizing modifications to existing automatic frequency-control algorithms to preserve prior software investments.

The Aero+ transceiver includes a 32-lead, MLP, Si4200 transceiver; 20-lead, Si4201, base-band interface; and 32-lead, MLP, Si4134T RF synthesizer. The Aero+ chipset is offered at $5.80 in quantities of 10,000.