Modulator to cut power consumption

Tim Haynes, Nujira’s ceo, pictured, said: “A lot of the expenditure in basestations depends upon power amp (PA) efficiency, which can be as low as 15%. By improving this efficiency, operators can build cheaper basestations which use less power.” Haynes said that, to operate efficiently, the linear PAs in current basestations must run at full power. But this is unusual, so efficiency is reduced significantly. Nujira’s solution is an envelope tracking technology called HAT in which voltage is modulated to keep the PA in its most efficient operating region. Although targeting basestations initially, Nujira is also addressing broadcast tv applications. Although much higher power, the problem can be solved in a similar way. But the company has its sights on the handset market, where it sees major opportunities. “Today,” Haynes continued, “14 frequency bands have been identified for 4G, which means manufacturers might have to develop 14 different amps.” Julian Hildersley, vp of strategy and marketing, noted: “We have the opportunity to enable multimode wideband high efficiency PAs to improve handset battery life, whilst reducing cost and size.”