BAW filter Comparison 2022

Overview / Introduction

• Executive Summary
• Analyzed BAW Filters
• Reverse Costing Methodology

Company Profile

• RFFE & Connectivity Market Forecast
• Smartphone and Supplier OEM Market Share
• Market Forecast: Air Standard, Filters
• Company Profile:
  Broadcom, Skyworks, Qorvo, Taiyo Yuden, ROFS, Akoustis, Texas Instruments
• Filters technologies
• Bulk Acoustic Wave Technology

Physical Analysis – Summary

• BAW Filter Extraction
  • Apple iPhone 13 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, TY Discrete filter, BLU G90, Amazon eero 6 Pro, TI Evaluation Board
• Summary of physical Data

Physical Analysis – Teardown

• Broadcom/Avago – FBAR-BAW Filter Analysis
  • Package Analysis
    • Package Opening
  • Die Analysis
    • Die Overview
    • Die Cross-Section
    • Physical Data
    • Process structure
• Skyworks – FBAR-BAW Filter Analysis
• Qorvo – SMR-BAW Filter Analysis
• Taiyo Yuden – FBAR-BAW Filter Analysis
• ROFS – FBAR-BAW Filter Analysis
• Akoustis – FBAR-BAW Filter Analysis
• Texas Instruments – DBAR-BAW Filter Analysis
• Unidentified Mnf. – FBAR-BAW Filter Analysis

Physical Comparison

• FBAR-BAW filters
  • Manufacturing technology
  • Design Analysis
• FBAR-BAW vs. SMR-BAW Filters
• SMR-BAW vs. DBAR Filters

Cost Analysis & Comparison

• Synthesis
• FBAR-BAW Filter – Cost Analysis
• SMR-BAW & DBAR-BAW Filter – Cost Analysis

Related Analyses

Yole Group presentation

The overall RF front-end market numbered $17.6B in 2021, up 40% from 2020 according to Yole Intelligence. One of the key components for RF front-end design is the filter – either integrated in the module or under a discrete form. Overall, the filter market reached $7.3B in 2021 as highlighted in Yole Intelligence’s smartphone RF monitor Q2 2022. The key features of 5G are driving this market up in numbers, and also in the tightening of the specifications required. Therefore, BAW filters, which were once restricted to premium smartphones, are now becoming suitable for the mass market. In this context, the leading RF front-end manufacturers keep improving their technology and expanding their product line, while new players are investing in the development of this must-have technology.

Up until now, surface acoustic wave (SAW) and bulk acoustic wave (BAW) filters have been well-suited for distinct frequency bands. SAW filters are best suited to lower frequencies in the cellular market, and BAW filters for higher frequencies. SAW filters are well-adopted in the low frequency range, from 0.4 to 1.2 GHz. In the middle (1.2 to 2.2 GHz), however, both SAW and BAW filters have struggled in the market. State-of-the-art BAW filters offered better performance, whereas SAW filters were cheaper and offered acceptable performance. Meanwhile, for high-frequency applications (2.2 to 6.0 GHz), BAW filters were the leader.

This situation is no longer the case, and several companies have developed technologies that will disrupt the filter market. In fact, several trends can be observed:

• Asian-based companies are offering their own SAW technology, which is lower in cost compared to the competition.
• S.-based companies mainly offer high-performance SAW filters.
• Market leaders, with the development of new technology, are increasing the frequency range of well-known devices such as SAW and film bulk-acoustic resonator (FBAR)-BAW filters.
• With the rise of 5G and Wi-Fi 6E, almost all the market leaders are looking for BAW solutions.
• In the middle frequency ranges, SAW companies are looking for cost-effective solutions with high performance: temperature-compensated SAW (TC-SAW) filters, thin film SAW (TF-SAW), etc.

In this report, BAW filters are divided into three main processes: film bulk-acoustic resonator (FBAR), solidly mounted resonator (SMR), and dual Bragg acoustic resonator (DBAR). With these three processes, several companies are disrupting the market. For FBAR several American companies are involved, such as Broadcom and more recently Skyworks and Akoustis. Newcomers are also arriving from China and could disrupt the market, e.g., ROFS.  For SMR, the market is split between two players: Qualcomm and Qorvo. Texas Instruments has also recently entered this market with its own technology. It is called DBAR and it is not dedicated to filtering but to clock generation as a first step.

This report provides insights on the technology data for the BAW resonator technology from different suppliers. We include a comparative study of eight components from eight different suppliers: Broadcom, Skyworks, Qorvo, Taiyo Yuden, Akoustis, Texas Instruments, and ROFS, as well as one from an unidentified Asian manufacturer.

The physical data of several components is compared in terms of process flow, cost, and integration in order to provide a large panel of OEM technical and economic choices from the market, such as:

• FBAR technology from emerging Asian-based companies compared to the market leader, with novel technology such as wafer bonding
• SMR technology from Qorvo using polymer air cavity and copper post
• DBAR technology from Texas Instruments using an innovative dual Bragg design

This report also includes a description of each process flow for the eight BAW technologies on the market, as well as a complete cost analysis of the process in order to explain the OEMs’ choices.

• Avago
• Akoustis
• Broadcom
• Murata
• Qorvo
• Qualcomm
• Resonant
• ROFS Microsystem
• Shenzhen Yatelian Technology Co. Ltd.
• Skyworks
• Taiyo Yuden
• Texas Instruments

KEY FEATURES:

• Detailed photos
• Precise measurements
• Materials analysis
• Manufacturing process flow
• Supply chain evaluation
• Manufacturing cost analysis
• Comparative study with photos and cross-sections
• Filter overview: schematics, materials, dimensions
• Physical and cost comparison

WHAT'S NEW:

• Comparative analysis of the leading BAW resonator technologies on the market
• BAW is a technology that is growing in the market (driven by 5G, Wi-Fi 6E)
• 5G has led to optimizations that are analyzed in this report
• SAW filter comparison report, also in YSP catalogue
  • done in 2020, updated in 2022