The OpenET Alliance, the organisation that is promoting the use of Envelope Tracking technology in wireless and broadcast radio transmitters, has released a new API specification for 4G handsets.
The hope is this will drive further cross industry collaboration in the development and adoption of the wide-band power optimisation technology for the RF front end of 3G and 4G handsets.
"The new API will help the industry deliver efficient 4G transmitters more quickly by providing a platform for closer and more effective co-operation between component suppliers," said Steven Baker, technical director, OpenET Alliance.
The Alliance sees 4G as the big opportunity for Envelope Tracking.
"Using Envelope Tracking technology based on the new OpenET API, manufacturers can develop 4G handsets that require 30%-50% less energy and support a larger number of LTE frequency bands," claimed Baker.
The API document defines an implementation-independent software interface between the high level calibration, configuration and control functionality required for Envelope Tracking and the low level transceiver and modulator hardware blocks.
The API specification is owned by the OpenET Alliance Systems Working Group who will maintain and further develop the APIs.
"In addition, the API document serves as a useful tutorial for engineers wishing to understand the impact of Envelope Tracking on the chipset firmware, as it is a self-contained document which describes all the hooks required to implement ET-enabled solutions for TX power control and calibration in a handset," added Steven Baker.
The new API is freely available to all members of the OpenET Alliance. Membership is available on the OpenET website.
