Recently, Yole Développement and two analysts from its consulting company System Plus Consulting jointly disassembled and studied Google's latest 5G Pixel 6 Pro, and found that the chip in the phone uses Samsung's FDS28 (28nm FD-SOI, depletion-type insulation layer silicon) process, of which the FD-SOI substrate comes from the French company Soitec.
Recently, Yole Développement and two analysts from its consulting company System Plus Consulting jointly disassembled and studied Google's latest 5GPixel 6Pro, and found that the chip in the phone uses Samsung's FDS28 (28nmFD-SOI, depletion-type insulation layer on silicon) process, in which the FD-SOI substrate comes from the French company Soitec.
Analysts pointed out that FD-SOI can reduce the heat dissipation of mobile phones, provide higher energy efficiency for millimeter wave applications, and improve battery life. Excellent energy efficiency makes the mobile phone more power,which can ensure a better connection between the mobile phone and the base station, thereby optimizing the quality of communication. The superior performance of FD-SOI makes it one of the ideal choices for 5G mmWave applications today, and it is expected to be favored by more fields in the future.
5G millimeter wave is not only prevalent in the United States and Japan, but is also booming in many other parts of the world. 5G millimeter wave is considered to be a complement to the current 5G below 6GHz, and its superior performance is suitable for multiple fields. It is worth noting that 5G millimeter wave has improved the performance of the downlink while also greatly improving the performance of the more important uplink. Although smartphone apps are primarily focused on downlink innovation, it is foreseeable that good uplink performance will open up new possibilities.
Figure 1: Pixel 6 Pro disassembling
When it comes to mobile phone innovation, Google has been very good at introducing breakthrough technologies, and the radar motion sensor on the Pixel 4 is one of them. As a result, System Plus Consulting analyzed Google's new 5G millimeter wave-enabled Pixel 6 Pro. During the dismantling process, analysts discovered several key technologies.
First of all, the Pixel 6 Pro marks Samsung's breaking of Qualcomm's monopoly. As shown in Figure 1, Samsung provides all the key components of the system, including: modems, if you transceivers, millimeter wave RF transceivers, and power management ICs. Second, Murata assembled the AiP (Encapsulated Antenna) with its state-of-the-art MetroCirc substrate in-house.
Figure 2: A communication module disassembled from the Google Pixel 6 Pro
The design of the disassembled module in Google Pixel 6 is the first in the industry. It features an innovative and flexible antenna design that enables two radiation directions (back and side) with a single component, including a fully operational 16-channel transceiver. Solutions from other vendors are typically based on two components, each with a partially used 16-channel transceiver. The biggest innovation in this design is reflected in the interior of its millimeter wave antenna package. As shown in Figure 2, the Pixel 6 Pro's internal mmWave RF transceiver is based on Samsung's 28FDS platform (FDSOI 28nm), which is also an important industry first.
According to Yole's forecast, 5G millimeter wave will usher in rapid growth. As shown in Figure 3, its market size is expected to grow from $53 million in 2019 to $2.736 billion in 2026, an increase of 76%. At the same time, Yole also predicts that by 2026, the AiP and mmWave front-end module market size will reach $2.7 billion. Google's solution based on Soitec's FD-SOI is the first to introduce FD-SOI to the mobile phone market, replacing Qualcomm's bulk CMOS solution, which may further promote the development of 5G millimeter wave.
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Figure 3: Yole's forecast for the RF front-end market size
In addition, Yole predicts in a latest cellular RF front-end market report that the market will usher in new technologies, and FD-SOI will penetrate the market as early as 2022. FD-SOI provides a fully integrated solution for 5G mmWave that can recombine IF conversion into mmWave signals (or vice versa) and mmWave RF front ends (including transmit and receive paths), which is well suited to the needs of 5G mmWave applications.
All in all, the two significant advantages of FD-SOI make it suitable for RF. One is its significant integration advantages in mixed-signal and RF circuits, and the other is its ability to provide sufficient power at millimeter wave frequencies while maintaining high efficiency, reducing heat dissipation, and improving endurance. In addition, with better power consumption levels, FD-SOI enables better connectivity and cost control between devices and base stations, thereby improving the quality of communication services. Google's Pixel 6 Pro is the first to use FD-SOI for 5G millimeter wave, opening up more possibilities for smartphone design.