Qualcomm dropped a bombshell on the RF front end market last year when it unveiled its RF360 product, which took it up against established specialists such as Skyworks. This saw the company looking to control as many elements of the mobile chipset as possible, and now it has made an acquisition to bolster this business, buying power amplifier provider Black Sand Technologies. Just as important to the larger firm will be Black Sand’s patent portfolio, which sources told LightReading was the largest in the segment. The Texas-based start-up, founded in 2005, has raised about $28.2m in venture capital and completed a $10m third round in early 2012. Its technology should help Qualcomm further threaten specialized providers like Skyworks, Triquint, RF…