Pegatron 5G Selects MaxLinear’s Sierra Radio SoC for Next-Generation 5G Macro Open RAN Radio Unit

MaxLinear, Inc. (Nasdaq: MXL), a leading provider of wireless infrastructure solutions, today announced that Pegatron 5G has selected Sierra, the company’s single-chip Radio SoC, for their next generation PR2850 5G Macro Open RAN Radio Unit (O-RU). Pegatron is a global technology leader focusing on O-RAN-compliant solutions.

The PR2850 is Pegatron 5G’s latest carrier-grade 5G Macro O-RU designed for Open RAN deployments. Purpose-built for performance and flexibility, the PR2850 combines high output power, TDD and FDD multi-band support, and advanced MIMO capabilities. Enabled by MaxLinear’s Sierra Radio SoC, the PR2850 is a high-performance macro radio in an ultra-compact form factor with low power consumption. This balance of performance, efficiency, and size positions Pegatron 5G as a key partner in accelerating the global adoption of open, intelligent, and sustainable 5G networks. Pegatron will showcase the PR2850 at the upcoming India Mobile Congress 2025 (IMC 2025) in New Delhi from October 8 to 11 – Hall 1, stand #D10.

Sierra is an innovative Radio SoC that flexibly supports all major RU applications including traditional macro, massive MIMO, pico, and all-in-one small cells. Sierra integrates multiple sub-systems into a single chip, providing a complete software-programmable radio signal processing engine for O-RUs:

• Radio Frequency (RF) transceiver supporting up to 8 transmitters, 8 receivers, and 2 feedback receivers
• Digital Front End (DFE) with digital pre-distortion (DPD), crest factor reduction (CFR), and passive intermodulation (PIM) cancellation
• Low-PHY baseband processor supporting 5G, 4G, and NB-IoT air interfaces
• O-RAN Alliance Split 7.2x fronthaul interface

According to the August 2024 Open RAN Market Report from MarketsandMarkets, the global Open RAN market is projected to grow from USD 2.8 billion in 2024 to USD 20.9 billion by 2030 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 39.4%.

“Close collaboration between Pegatron 5G and MaxLinear dramatically accelerated the development of our new PR2850 5G Macro O-RU,” said CY Feng, General Manager of Pegatron Communication Products Business Group. “Sierra’s highly efficient PA linearization technology coupled with its superior system integration and flexibility enabled us to deliver highly competitive RUs with compact size and low power consumption. We’re grateful for MaxLinear’s technical support, which helped us accelerate our time to market.”

“MaxLinear is proud to support Pegatron 5G in our ongoing cooperation,” said Puneet Sethi, Vice President of MaxLinear’s Network Infrastructure & Carrier BU. “Sierra empowered Pegatron 5G’s development teams to rapidly and cost-effectively build high-performance Open Ran radio platforms. Sierra levels the playing field for Pegatron 5G to dramatically accelerate their deployment of cutting-edge Open RAN radios with global operators.”