Early February, the world’s eyes were fixed on Glendale’s State Farm Stadium as it opened to its fourth spectacular NFL Super
Bowl (LVII). This is Arizona, where champions of sport are not the only high achievers at the top of their game. Just 30 minutes
drive from the site of the Kansas City Chiefs’ triumph, in the heart of what is famously known as the Silicon Desert, lies NXP’s
renowned Chandler site, a champion of another kind.
Expanding the Reach of 5G
One of the company’s key global facilities,
our new GaN fab, combines NXP’s expertise
as the industry leader in RF power and its high-volume manufacturing know-how. This helps advance 5G base stations and
communication infrastructure, both playing central roles in the seamless connectivity experienced at State Farm Stadium.
Aerial view of NXP’s GaN Fab in Chandler, Arizona
Sharing Half-Time Headlines with a Full-Time Superstar
Long before the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs squared off on the field in Glendale, preparations to make this a
seamless spectacular were already well underway. The audio-visual networks, communications infrastructure and supporting
hardware and software were under intense scrutiny, especially because megastar
Rihanna had been secured as the hallowed half-time headliner.
With a much-anticipated performance that had fans dancing in the stands, live-streaming and sharing, Rihanna famously shared her
own amazing news, her second baby, making this an even more newsworthy event. And like any news, sharing it means shifting data,
real-time and real far, which is where NXP and partners come into their element.
Super Bowl LVII was hosted in Glendale, Arizona on February 12, 2023
5G Ultra-Wideband in Place
Naturally, at an event of this size, data networks are tasked with shifting tremendous amounts of data and high-quality video
for broadcast media, livestreaming fans, social media influencers, the 63,000-capacity crowd, security operations, concession
stands and delighted sponsors. All of which requires some high-achieving high-tech champions, including NXP partner
Verizon, which invested more than $100
million in permanent network upgrades and enhancements in and around the Phoenix area ahead of the big game.
NXP enables wide area connectivity solutions for 5G implementation. Enhance your 5G designs with
NXP 5G solutions.
Extending Verizon’s Horizon
To make this one of the most connected Super Bowls in history, Verizon went
above and beyond, installing 1,400
4G and 5G antennas under stadium seats, with 460 5G nodes dotted around the stadium, 66 of which were 5G mmWave nodes. Outside
the stadium, 90 new 4G nodes and 180 5G nodes around the area were installed to handle the vast amounts of real-time data
passing to, from and within the arena both before, during and after the big game.
State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona uses light poles for 5G small cells
Scoring with Champions
As Harrison Butker scored his
game-winning field goal to give the Kansas City Chiefs their second victory in four years, the world watched the images live, captured, streamed
and sent through networks made possible by NXP. NXP’s 5G technology makes seamless connectivity possible for the tens of
thousands of fans attending the Super Bowl. Our RF devices may be tiny, but they’re the key components that allow thousands of
distributed antenna systems (DAS), small cells and base stations to transmit their signals, indoors and outdoors.
They must be extremely efficient to consume as little power as possible and generate squeaky-clean signals that don’t interfere
with each other. They make their silent contributions while the crowds were roaring for their teams at the Super Bowl, as the
38-35 score made kings of the Chiefs, and NXP’s breakthrough technologies made champions of us all.
