5G's impact on RF Front-End for Telecom

From Technologies to Markets

© 2021

5G's impact on RF Front-End for

Telecom Infrastructure 2021

Sample

Market and Technology

Report 2021

2

• Glossary and definitions 2

• Table of contents 4

• Scope of the report 6

• Methodologies & definitions 7

• About the authors 8

• Companies cited in this report 9

• What we got right, What we got wrong 10

• Executive summary 11

o Why this report 12

o Market dynamics 13

o Market outlook 21

o Market share 42

o Outlook 47

• Market forecasts 48

o System level forecast (Mu) 49

o RF line forecast (Mu) 57

o RF components forecast (Mu, $M) 63

o Wafer forecast (kw) 73

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Part 1/1

• Market trends 79

o Market dynamics 80

o Regional dynamics 87

o Network transformation 94

o What to look out for 102

• Market shares and supply chain 105

o Market shares 107

o Telecom infrastructure market ecosystem 113

o Company information 120

o M&A, collaboration, fundraising 133

o Existing radio units and amplification components 136

• Technology trends 143

o From physical site to antenna system 144

o Architecture 172

o Components 198

Power amplifiers 199

RF switches 218

Filters 225

What to look out for 231

o Beamforming 233

o Technology platforms 244

• Outlook 249

5G’s Impact on RF Front-End for Telecom Infrastructure 2021 | Sample | www.yole.fr | ©2021

http://www.yole.fr/

3

Antoine BONNABEL

Antoine Bonnabel is a Technology & Market Analyst for the Power & Wireless team at Yole Développement (Yole). He carries out technical,

marketing, and strategic analyses focused on RF devices, related technologies and markets. Prior to Yole, Antoine was R&D Program Manager for

DelfMEMS (FR), a company specializing in RF switches, where he supervised Intellectual Property and Business Intelligence activities. Additionally, he

has co-authored several market reports and is co-inventor of three patents in RF MEMS design. Antoine holds an M.Sc. in Microelectronics from

Grenoble Institute of Technology (France) and an M.Sc. in Management from Grenoble Graduate School of Business (France).

E-mail: [email protected]

Cédric MALAQUIN

As a Technology & Market Analyst specializing in RF devices & technologies at Yole Développement (Yole), Cédric Malaquin is involved in thedevelopment of technology & market reports as well as the production of custom consulting projects. Prior to working with Yole, Cédric wasemployed at Soitec as a Process Integration Engineer for nine years and then as an Electrical Characterization Engineer for six years. Cédric hascontributed heavily to FDSOI and RFSOI product characterization and has authored or co-authored three patents and five international publicationsin the semiconductor field. Cédric graduated from Polytech Lille in France with an Engineering degree in Microelectronics and Material Sciences.

Email: [email protected]

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Biographies & contacts

Mohammed TMIMI

Mohammed Tmimi, PhD., joined Yole Développement (Yole) as a Junior Technology and Market Analyst, RF Devices & Technologies. Prior to Yole,

Mohammed was engaged in developing a novel approach for RF/mmW high-speed serial links for high-performance chips at STMicroelectronics'

Crolles R&D site in France as part of his Ph.D. . During his Ph.D., he also worked on mmW design in advanced FD-SOI nodes and proposed an original

interconnect technique for 2.5D/3D packaging. Mohammed holds a patent on said serial links and published two scientific papers. Mohammed received

his Nano Electronics and NanoTechnologies Ph.D. from the University of Grenoble Alpes, France. Beforehand, Mohammed graduated from INP

Grenoble (France) with a master's in Microelectronics and held an electronics engineering degree from ENSAO (Morocco).

E-mail: [email protected]


http://www.yole.fr/

mailto:[email protected]

4

2021 YOLE RF REPORT COLLECTION

4G/5G Telecom Infrastructure -Technology and Market Trends 2021

Cellular RF Front-End Technologies for

Mobile Handset 2021

5G mMTC and IoT platforms -

Technology and Market Trends 2021

Infrastructure Technologies for 5G-enabled Applications 2021

Wireless Connectivity RF Front-

End Technologies for Consumer Market 2021

Wireless Technologies for Automotive Market 2021

&

Focus on BTS,

Small cells, and

their RF

components

General outlook of all 5G related applications at

system level for infrastructure

Consumer

UE RFFE

components

(BT, WiFi,

NFC,

LTE/5G)

Automotive RF technologies (Radar, V2X, GNSS, 5G)

Massive Machine Type

Communication: LTE-M,

NB-IoT and other 5G / non

5G approaches

Legend: Is looked at in detail in

the following report


http://www.yole.fr/

5

SCOPE OF THE REPORT

This report covers the global RF infrastructure component market for 4G/5G.

RF front-end component details

RF architecture and RF chain characterization

Frequency and power split

Antenna and radio technologies – Generation split

General 5G market dynamics. Cloud-RAN, 5G end markets and 5G non-consumer-oriented technologies.

Included

Included

Included

Included

Not included


http://www.yole.fr/

6

METHODOLOGIES & DEFINITIONS

Market

Volume (in Munits)

ASP (in $)

Revenue (in $M)

Yole’s market forecast model is based on the matching of several sources:

Information

Aggregation

Preexisting

information

This report has been written

using Yole’s February 2021

internal end-systems database


http://www.yole.fr/

7

5G is now happening all around the world, with extensive infrastructure deployments. Theuncertainties regarding which technology to adopt and which system-level approach will prevail haveslowly started to disappear, and now the multitude of players are positioning themselves on thedifferent existing technologies.

In this context, we decided to update our report on Telecom Infrastructure which looks at the RFsemiconductor industry players and market in order to help our customers in their decision-makingprocess regarding this very active market.

This report is as thorough as possible regarding the RF component vertical, starting from marketestimates at antenna system level, with the differentiation between 4G and 5G infrastructure, ActiveAntenna Systems and Remote Radio Heads, and going down to RF components in RF lines, and towafer-level estimates for the different technologies used in component manufacturing (e.g., LDMOS,GaN, GaAs, SOI,…).

This report fits well with Yole Développement’s report on RF components for mobile handsets:“Cellular RF Front-End Technologies for Mobile Handset 2021” and subsequent reports looking atother 5G markets: “5G mMTC and IoT platforms - Technology and Market Trends 2021”,“Infrastructure Technologies for 5G-enabled Applications 2021”).

WHY THIS REPORT?


http://www.yole.fr/

8

5G INFRASTRUCTURE GENERAL MARKET DYNAMICS

Use cases and impact on infrastructure technologies

5G

New modulation techniques

New frequencies

(Sub6 + mmWave)

Cloud-RAN

Network slicing

5G

markets

Enterprise

Consumer

V2X

Industry (IoT)

Infrastructure

RF innovation: MIMO, mMIMO,

beamforming

Macro-cell / small cell / Pico-cell deployments

Front-End innovation (RRH, active antenna)

Backhaul innovation (dual

frequency)

Consumer

Automotive

Industrial

Enterprise

Mobile & FWA

V2X URLLC

mMTC

NaaS

RAN: Radio Access Network

MIMO: Multiple Input Multiple Output

IoT: Internet of Things

V2X: Vehicle-to-everything

mMTC: Massive machine type communication

URLLC: Ultra-Reliable low-latency communication

FWA : Fixed wireless access

NaaS: Network as a service


http://www.yole.fr/

9

5G INFRASTRUCTURE GENERAL MARKET DYNAMICS

What are the 5G commercial use cases?

Markets

Enterprise (NaaS)

Consumer

(eMBB)

V2X

(URLLC)

Industry (mMTC)

mmWave

small cells

Sub6 small

cells

Sub6

macrosites

Sub6 roadside

macrosites

Sub6 roadside

small cells

Interest in US &

Korea

Interest in

Japan

Interest in

developed

countries

2021 2025

Interest in US, Japan,

Korea & China

Interest in US, Japan,

Korea & China

Worldwide interest

No will for investment

No commercial use case2021

2025Low will for investment

Expected use case

No will for investment

No commercial use case

Will for investment

Expected use case

In-fab Sub6

small cells

Sub6

macrosites

Global

interest

20212025

No interest

Interest via NB

IoT / Cat M

Global

interest

In building

mmWave small cellsPico/Femto cells

No interest2021

2025Common in USA, Japan,

Korea

Interest in USA

Common in USA, Japan,

Korea

2021

2025

Fixed

Wireless

Access

(FWA)

Interest in USA

and China

Common in USA and

China

Report scope


http://www.yole.fr/

10

TELECOM INFRASTRUCTURE TECHNOLOGIES

What are the Telecom Infrastructure RAN technologies?

RAN

Backhaul

LTE

mmWave

Sub6 NR

Macrosite

Microsite

Outdoor

small cell

mmWave Base-Station

(mmWave BTS)

Global use

Global use

2021 2025

Global use

Global use

First deployments

Low number of

deployments

No deployments

Common in USA, Japan

and Korea

Macrosite

MicrositeGlobal use

20212025

Worldwide

deployment

Worldwide

deployment

Global use

mmWave radio-link Last-mile backhaul

Common use2021

2025Fiber is preferred in

CN/KR/JP

E & D band elsewhere

Low overall use

Common in USA, Japan,

Korea

2021

2025

Indoor small

cell

No deployments2021

2025Common in enterprises,

industries and venues

Indoor small

cell (DAS)

Use in

enterprises

and venues

Low interest

Outdoor

small cell

Low overall

interestLow overall interest

Report scope

Indoor small

cell (DAS)

Low overall

interestLow overall interest

Outdoor

small cellLow overall

interestLow interest


http://www.yole.fr/

11

Cellular networks get their name from the arrangement of the zones covered into cells. Cells can be any shapeand any size, but depending on the geographic topology of the cell, the base station will emit more or less power.

One trend is to densify the network using small cells, while upgrading already existing macrosites.

Different cell types, with structures emitting at different power levels, are used in a cellular network.

CELLULAR NETWORK STRUCTURE


http://www.yole.fr/

12

BASICS OF TELECOM INFRASTRUCTURE

Macrosites and macro-cells

Creating new macrosites requires concealment downtown due to urbanization and requires tower creation out-of-town.

Macrosite cell tower with multiple emitting

structures.

In-town macrosites, one concealed at the top of a

tree, another on top of a building.

Macrosites address macro-cells in which

users can receive the radio signal.


http://www.yole.fr/

13

The two approaches differ in terms of size, ease of implementation and usage.

MICROSITES AND SMALL CELLS

LTE microsite antenna and RRH

mounted on mast. Sub6 microsites

follow this approach.

Sub6 microsite mMIMO active antenna mounted on rooftop (top).

WiFi small cell mounted on lamp post (left).

Ericsson strand-mount small cell unit (bottom).

WiFi small cell antenna and RRH

mounted on lamp post. This form

factor / ease of deployment is

sought after for mmWave small

cells.


http://www.yole.fr/

14

MICRO / MACRO RADIO UNIT AND SMALL CELLS

Street level Building rooftop Mast

Pico/Femto

cells

Radiated power (W)

1

10

100

1000

0.1

Indoor

Radio location

Small cells

Micro

Macro

There are multiple formats of radios.Depending on the power level and theterrain constraint, these radios areinstalled at different levels of thenetwork infrastructure.

Macro are generally featured on top ofmasts or towers but are also installedon rooftops.

Small cells are installed at street leveland address the challenges of networkcapacity and coverage improvement.

Micro can be featured at street levelor on rooftops and are acomplementary offering to fill the gapbetween the macro and the smallcells.

Pico/Femto cells are deployed inindoor environments, therefore theirpower level is limited.


http://www.yole.fr/

15

Our RF chain segmentation depends on two parameters, power level and frequency.

Power level is defined by two characteristics: the nature of the site (e.g., macrosite, small cell, etc.), the nature ofthe antenna system and the associated number of streams (e.g., remote radio head (RRH), active antenna system(AAS) with 16, 32, or 64 elements, etc.).

Frequency is defined by a set of ranges, whether it is FR1 (sub-6 GHz) or FR2 (mmWave).

RF CHAIN SEGMENTATION

100 W

75 W

25 W

10 W

5 W

2.5 W

250 mW

3 GHz 6 GHz 28 – 39 GHz – 60 GHz

2 streams macrosite RRH

Multi-streams (4, 8) macrosite RRH

mmWave BTS

64, 128 streams

Multi streams (2, 4, 8, 16) small cells

50 W

1 W

massive MIMO AAS

16, 32, 64 or 128 streams

50 mW

25 mW

Po

wer

per

RF c

hai

n (

W)

Operating frequency5G’s Impact on RF Front-End for Telecom Infrastructure 2021 | Sample | www.yole.fr | ©2021

http://www.yole.fr/

16

RFIC

1923 22 26

43

58

84

108

137142 142

0 0 1 1 2 512

23

45

62

77

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

RF line macro RF line small cell

TRANSITION FROM REMOTE RADIO UNIT TO MMIMO RADIO

Heading toward a large increase in number of RF components

PADriver

Gain

block

Gain

blockLNA Switch

Main RF line scheme

2x80W, 4x40W, 8x20WPA

module

Gain

block

Gain

block

Rx

module

Main RF line scheme

32x10W, 64x5W

mmWave Beamformer

256x200mW

AE AE

AEAE

RRU

AAS

mmWave

BTS


http://www.yole.fr/

17

RF COMPONENT TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM FOR INFRASTRUCTURE

By type of component

Gain

block

(Pre-)

Driver

Final

stage

PA

LNA Switch

SiGe

BiCMOS

InGaP HBTpHEMT

GaAs

SiGe

BiCMOS

InGaP HBTpHEMT

GaAs

LDMOS

LDMOSGaN

HEMT

PIN diodeGaN

HEMT

pHEMT

GaAs

RF SoS

RF SOIpHEMT

GaAsRF SOI

SiGe

BiCMOS

Beamformer

module

pHEMT

GaAs

RF SOI

RF SoS

RF CMOS

SiGe

BiCMOS

GaN

HEMT Low Noise Amplifier


http://www.yole.fr/

18

FINAL STAGE POWER AMPLIFIER TECHNOLOGY EVOLUTION

Power vs. Frequency characteristics 2021

Source: Yole

1000

Output

Power(W)

100

10

1

0.1

0 Frequency(GHz)1 2 4 8 >20

LTE / 5G Sub6 RRHLTE RRH

LTE Macrosites

Active antennas

< 32 elements

LTE / 5G Sub6 Macrosites

Active antennas < 32 elements

LTE / 5G sub6 Macrosites / Microsites

Active antennas

> 32 elements

LTE small cells 5G Sub6 small cells

mmWave Small cells &

Micro BST

Backhaul

SiGeLegend LDMOS GaAs GaN CMOS


http://www.yole.fr/

19

URBAN SMALL CELL FORECAST

Radio standard view


http://www.yole.fr/

20

OVERALL RF MARKET FORECAST

By type of component


http://www.yole.fr/

21

OVERALL INFRASTRUCTURE RFFE MARKET FORECAST

Per technology platform


http://www.yole.fr/

22

OVERALL WAFER STARTS

By substrate type


http://www.yole.fr/

23

Infrastructure RF front end market forecast – By type of component

TAM RF front-end

Final stage PA

PreDriver, driver & gain block

LNA, LNA/Switch & switch

Filter

Beamformer

$1.5B

CAGR +4%

$1.2B

2020$2.7B

2025$3.6B

$0.7BCAGR +9%

$0.7B $0.8BCAGR +2%

$0.4B$0.005B

$0.1BCAGR +100%

$0.3BCAGR +11%$0.2B


http://www.yole.fr/

24

INFRASTRUCTURE RF FRONT END MARKET FORECAST

By technology platform

TAM RF Front End

LDMOS

GaAs

GaN

SiGe, RFSOI, CMOS, SoS, Si

Cavity

Ceramic

MLC, Acoustic


http://www.yole.fr/

25

INFRASTRUCTURE RF FRONT END WAFER START FORECAST

By substrate type

RF Front End wafer start (kw)

Si 8” eq

GaAs 6”

GaN/SiC 6”eq

GaN/Si 8”eq

SOI 8” eq

LT/LN 6” eq

SoS 6”


http://www.yole.fr/

26

OVERALL INFRASTRUCTURE RF FRONT-END MARKET SHARES

(*) 2020 RF front-end TAM excluding cavity and ceramic filters


http://www.yole.fr/

27

Contact our

Sales Team

for more

information

5G’s Impact on RF Front-End and Connectivity for Cellphones 2020

YOLE GROUP OF COMPANIES RELATED REPORTS

Yole Développement


http://www.yole.fr/

https://www.i-micronews.com/products/5gs-impact-on-rf-front-end-and-connectivity-for-cellphones-2020/?utm_source=Yole&utm_medium=relatedreports_Sample&utm_campaign=r_5G_Telecom_Infra_March2021

https://www.i-micronews.com/products/5gs-impact-on-rf-front-end-and-connectivity-for-cellphones-2020/?utm_source=Yole&utm_medium=relatedreports_Sample&utm_campaign=r_5G_Telecom_Infra_March2021

28

Contact our

Sales Team

for more

information

RF Front-End Module Comparison 2020 –Volume 4

RF Front-End Module Comparison2021 –Vol. 1 – Focus on Apple

YOLE GROUP OF COMPANIES RELATED REPORTS

System Plus Consulting


http://www.yole.fr/

https://www.i-micronews.com/products/rf-front-end-module-comparison-2021-vol-1-focus-on-apple/?utm_source=Yole&utm_medium=relatedreports_Sample&utm_campaign=r_5G_Telecom_Infra_March2021

https://www.i-micronews.com/products/rf-front-end-module-comparison-2020-volume-4/?utm_source=Yole&utm_medium=relatedreports_Sample&utm_campaign=r_5G_Telecom_Infra_March2021

https://www.i-micronews.com/products/rf-front-end-module-comparison-2021-vol-1-focus-on-apple/?utm_source=Yole&utm_medium=relatedreports_Sample&utm_campaign=r_5G_Telecom_Infra_March2021

https://www.i-micronews.com/products/rf-front-end-module-comparison-2020-volume-4/?utm_source=Yole&utm_medium=relatedreports_Sample&utm_campaign=r_5G_Telecom_Infra_March2021

29

Yole Group of Companies, including Yole Développement,

System Plus Consulting and PISEO, are pleased to provide

you a glimpse of our accumulated knowledge.

We invite you to share our data with your own network,

within your presentations, press releases, dedicated

articles and more, but you first need approval from Yole

Public Relations department.

If you are interested, feel free to contact us right now!

We will also be more than happy to give you updated data

and appropriate formats.

Your contact: Sandrine Leroy, Dir. Public Relations

Email: [email protected]

HOW TO USE OUR DATA?


http://www.yole.fr/

mailto:[email protected]?subject=I%20want%20to%20use%20webcast%20data

30About Yole Développement | www.yole.fr | ©2020

CONTACTS

FINANCIAL SERVICES

› Jean-Christophe Eloy - [email protected]

+33 4 72 83 01 80

› Ivan Donaldson - [email protected]

+1 208 850 3914

CUSTOM PROJECT SERVICES

› Jérome Azémar, Yole Développement -

[email protected] - +33 6 27 68 69 33

› Julie Coulon, System Plus Consulting -

[email protected] - +33 2 72 17 89 85

GENERAL

› Jean-Christophe Eloy, Marketing & Communication

[email protected] - +33 472 83 01 01

› Sandrine Leroy, Public Relations

[email protected] - +33 4 72 83 01 89

› General inquiries: [email protected] - +33 4 72 83 01 80

Western US & Canada

Steve Laferriere - [email protected]

+ 1 310 600 8267

Eastern US & Canada

Chris Youman - [email protected]

+1 919 607 9839

Europe and RoW

Lizzie Levenez - [email protected]

+49 15 123 544 182

Benelux, UK & Spain

Marine Wybranietz - [email protected]

+49 69 96 21 76 78

India and RoA

Takashi Onozawa - [email protected]

+81 80 4371 4887

Greater China

Mavis Wang - [email protected]

+886 979 336 809 +86 136 6156 6824

Korea

Peter Ok - [email protected]

+82 10 4089 0233

Japan

Miho Ohtake - [email protected]

+81 34 4059 204

Japan and Singapore

Itsuyo Oshiba - [email protected]

+81 80 3577 3042

Japan

Toru Hosaka – [email protected]

+81 90 1775 3866

Follow us on

REPORTS, MONITORS & TRACKS


http://www.yole.fr/


















https://twitter.com/yole_dev

https://www.linkedin.com/company/yole-d-veloppement

https://fr.slideshare.net/Yole_Developpement

https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Consulting-Agency/Yole-D%C3%A9veloppement-532261576952457/

5G's impact on RF Front-End for Telecom

Documents

Transcript of 5G's impact on RF Front-End for Telecom