Article: Top vendors brewing energy efficient 5G kit

Read the full article, originally published October 14, 2019, by Diana Goovaerts, on MobileWorldLive.com.

An executive at semiconductor maker GaN Systems tipped global equipment vendors to begin production of more power efficient 5G kit in 2020, a move which could potentially save operators millions on energy costs.

Paul Wiener, GaN Systems’ VP of strategic marketing, told Mobile World Live two of the world’s top-four vendors are preparing to deploy equipment sporting gallium nitride (GaN) transistors rather than traditional silicon components. He explained the move would improve energy efficiency, with the initial deployments in macro cell equipment coming a year before small cells.

By 2021, all of the top four vendors are expected to use GaN transistors in their network equipment, he said.

While transistors may not get a lot of attention, Wiener said the shift has the potential to save operators a “staggering” amount of money.

He explained GaN transistors can function much faster and are more power efficient than their silicon counterparts. Where silicon transistors offer around 90 per cent efficiency, GaN products yield 96 per cent or more.

Read the rest at MobileWorldLive.com.