RF frequency agnostic solution set to simplify software-defined radio systems in smartphones, wearables and IoT devices
Forefront RF, a fabless semiconductor company based in Cambridge, UK, announced today that its patented tunable duplexer technology has been officially trademarked. Registered as Foretune™, the company’s breakthrough solution is poised to redefine mobile radio front ends in smartphones, smartwatches and IoT systems by replacing fixed frequency filters with a tunable duplexer, dramatically simplifying RF architectures.
Present-day smartphones and other mobile devices are required to support 32 plus RF frequency bands to meet global data usage expectations. From a mobile radio front end perspective, each individual RF frequency bands requires a BAW/SAW filter and duplexer. These components are vital to the operation of all FDD wireless devices in their existing formats as they ensure that their built-in transmitters and receivers can simultaneously send and receive RF signals, whilst preventing self-interference from compromising their performance and efficiency. As new frequency bands are introduced to meet capacity requirements the component count per device increases in line, which is not sustainable long-term.
Forefront RF’s patented solution offers the potential to significantly reduce the number and types of components needed, by replacing them with a single frequency-agnostic module that is dynamically tuneable according to available frequencies and/or services needed. The company is already in discussions with several smartphone and smartwatch manufacturers and Foretune™ is expected to feature in their future product rollouts for cost-saving and sustainability reasons.
Following on from initial funding rounds in 2021 and 2022, Forefront RF raised a further £6.7million in April this year to bolster its technical capabilities to accelerate commercialisation and realise next stage growth plans. The funding round was led by BGF alongside existing investors, Science Creates and Foresight Group.
“It’s an exciting time to be joining Forefront RF,” says Ronald Wilting CEO at Forefront RF. The company is well placed to capitalise on strong global growth prospects in the smartphone and wearable markets by delivering tangible benefits to OEMs/ODMs through streamlined manufacturing processes and reduced supply chain waste.”
Forefront RF has also been crowned Business Weekly Awards Engineering champions 2023 and identified as one of the top 50 companies to watch in 2024.
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