NEC picks NXP chips for Massive MIMO 5G radios

NEC selected NXP to supply RF Airfast multi-chip modules to be used in a Massive MIMO 5G antenna Radio Unit (RU), which are being deployed by Rakuten Mobile in Japan.

NEC’s Massive MIMO 5G antenna RU features a 5G open virtual radio access network (vRAN) interface and has been adopted by Rakuten Mobile for its fully virtualized cloud-native mobile network. The RU utilizes extremely accurate digital beam forming for efficient high-capacity transmission and is easy to install as a result of miniaturization achieved through an increased level of circuit integration.

NXP’s new AFSC5G40E38 RF Airfast multi-chip module offera a common footprint across frequency and power for different regions, enabling faster time to market for network mobile operators.

NEC teamed up with Rakuten Mobile to develop and manufacture the 5G infrastructure that leverages NXP’s RF Airfast multi-chip modules.