Toshiba Electronics Europe GmbH ("Toshiba") has recently launched a new RF single-pole, double-throw (SPDT) switch with a compact package, suitable for applications such as telecommunications base stations, industrial equipment, repeaters, consumer electronics, and transceivers.

This new high-power RF SPDT switch (TCWA1225G) offers an input peak power of 46 dBm (@ 8dB PAR). This achievement is attributed to Toshiba's proprietary CMOS process and the optimization of the internal switching circuitry. The CMOS process also reduces the insertion loss to 0.6 dB (typical @ 5GHz) - about 10% lower than competitive products, thereby avoiding the reduction of transmit power and receiver sensitivity.

The operating voltage of the device is a nominal 3.3V, with a power consumption of only 50μA. The TCWA1225G can operate in ambient temperatures from -40ºC to +95ºC.

The TCWA1225G uses a miniature wafer-level chip-scale package (WCSP), measuring only 1.9mm x 1.9mm - about 10% smaller in footprint than other devices. All important pads, including RF terminals, power, and control, are positioned on the periphery of the device, simplifying the PCB layout.

As part of the 5G deployment, telecommunications base stations have recently introduced Massive MIMO (Multiple Input, Multiple Output) and multiple transmit/receive antennas to provide ultra-high-speed and ultra-large-capacity wireless communication services.

Individual antennas are composed of increasingly complex signal transmission paths, requiring RF switches. Therefore, low insertion loss, high input power, and a compact package size help to maintain or reduce the antenna size.