IN Brief:
- pSemi announced the PE566212 and PE566213 radio front-end modules in a release dated 7 October.
- Both integrate a power amplifier, low-noise amplifier and RF switch in a 1.8 mm square package.
- Both devices and evaluation boards are available; the PE566213 adds Bluetooth EDR support.
pSemi has introduced two monolithic 2.4 GHz radio front-end modules for Bluetooth, Zigbee and Thread equipment, integrating transmit amplification, low-noise reception and switching in packages measuring just 1.8 × 1.8 × 0.63 mm.
The PE566212 and PE566213 were announced in a manufacturer release dated 7 October, although the company's webpage and newsroom index display later publication dates. The devices and their evaluation boards are available, making this a product availability announcement rather than a future demonstration.
Both devices are fabricated using pSemi's silicon-on-insulator UltraCMOS+ technology. The integration of a power amplifier, low-noise amplifier and RF switch reduces the number of separate radio components developers need to connect between a wireless transceiver and an antenna.
The power amplifier increases the signal level during transmission. The low-noise amplifier processes comparatively weak signals arriving from the antenna, while the switch selects the required signal path according to the operating mode. These functions must work together without introducing excessive power loss or interference.
By placing the elements on a common semiconductor die, pSemi aims to simplify the layout and reduce the footprint of the radio section in connected equipment. The resulting board still requires appropriate antennas, supply filtering, matching and control connections, and its performance must be checked within the completed product.
Each module supports transmission up to +20 dBm in the specified modes, with a typical 1.8 dB receive noise figure at 13 dB gain and 0.8 dB typical loss through the bypass path. Those parameters measure different parts of radio performance and should not be combined into a single guarantee about range.
Noise figure indicates how much a receive circuit degrades the signal-to-noise ratio of a signal passing through it. Lower noise figure generally helps preserve weak received signals, but receiver sensitivity also depends on the transceiver, antenna, channel bandwidth and interference conditions.
Bypass-path insertion loss is relevant when the low-noise amplifier is not required. Even a small amount of attenuation can influence the link budget, particularly in equipment intended to operate at the edge of usable radio coverage.
The two modules have different digital gain-control arrangements. The PE566212 supports Bluetooth Basic Data Rate and Bluetooth Low Energy, with a 22.5 dB range of transmit gain adjustment in 1.5 dB steps.
The PE566213 supports those modes and adds Bluetooth Enhanced Data Rate operation. Its transmit control range is 15 dB in 1 dB steps, with the original announcement specifying approximately +11.5 dBm for Enhanced Data Rate operation.
Those distinctions matter because a design for a low-duty-cycle sensor may prioritise a different transmission profile from wireless audio hardware requiring enhanced throughput. Product selection should be based on the specific modulation modes and transmit conditions needed by the finished device.
The company cites five to ten times the range of a standalone system-on-chip as a potential system benefit. That remains a manufacturer comparison rather than a uniform expectation across installations, because antenna efficiency, propagation, interference and regulatory power limits influence the result.
Both devices use 14-lead land grid array packages with general-purpose digital control. Their physical dimensions may be useful in wearables and sensing equipment where the electronics have to share limited space with a battery, processor, sensors and the antenna structure.
Operating current and battery lifetime still depend on how often the device transmits and receives. Higher transmit power may support a more demanding link, but the energy cost of that transmission must be evaluated against the system's duty cycle and available supply.
pSemi is part of Murata and describes the product family as an extension of its established RF integration technology. The release does not identify a specific new customer design win or measured deployment range in a production device.
The availability of evaluation boards offers a route for engineers to verify gain settings, receive behaviour and RF layout before finalising a product. The confirmed October milestone is the launch of two specific integrated front ends, with the differences between their Bluetooth modes and gain settings documented in the manufacturer specifications.
