Active Components

Product Focus
Active Components
RF MEMS switch for signals from
dc to 7 GHz
RoHS-compliant 1.0 GHz to 6.0
GHz DPDT switch
TeraVicta Technologies Inc. has developed
the TT712-68CSP, a 7 GHz single-pole double
throw (SPDT) RF micro-electromechanical
systems (MEMS) switch that combines the
RF characteristics of mechanically switched
electrical pathways with the switching speed
and reliability benefits of solid-state switches.
With low insertion loss, low distortion, and
low power consumption, the device is suited
for applications such as Tx/Rx switching,
antenna bank switching and source/detector
multiplexing for test equipment.
The TT712-68CSP is composed of two
MEMS switches. One side of each switch
is tied to a common terminal on the device
package. The other side of each switch is
connected to a separate terminal so that the
three pads form the electrical terminals of
an SPDT switch. To achieve high switching
reliability, the MEMS switching elements are
driven by 70 Vdc, which can be supplied from
the company’s TT6820QFN charge pump or
supplied from an external source. The two
switches are engaged in a complimentary
fashion to perform the SPDT switching function. Because the MEMS devices are true dc
switches and because they are independently
controllable, make-before-break or break-before-make switching action can be emulated.
The TT712-68CSP features an insertion loss
of 0.1 dB at 1 GHz, a maximum dc on-resistance of 1 ohm, and a switching speed of less
than 100 microseconds. The peak input signal
power is 30 W, while the power consumption
is 3 mW when operated with the TT6820QFN
charge pump at 3 V.
The device can execute more than 100
million switching cycles and operate over
a temperature range of 0 °C to 70 °C. It is
housed in a 3.25mm x 4.5mm x 1.25mm CSP12 package. Sample units are priced at $35
each. Special packaging is available in similar
products to allow the MEMS die to serve as a
drop-in replacement for electromechanical relays. Evaluation boards for the TT712-68CSP
are also available.
TeraVicta Technologies Inc.
(512) 684 8691
www.TeraVicta.com
M/A-COM, a business unit of Tyco Electronics has announced the RoHS-compliant
MASWSS0107 DPDT switch for use in
WLAN applications that require individual
path control, low insertion loss, high isolation
and small size at a low cost. The typical application of the MASWSS0107 is for diversity
antenna switching in wireless LAN systems
that connect two separate receive functions
to two common antennas. For 802.11a/b/g
applications under test conditions of 3.0 V,
the MASWSS0107 is designed to have the
following typical performance specifications
at 5.8 GHz: insertion loss of 1.2 dB, isolation of 32 dB, IIP3 of 51 dBm, and P1dB of
32 dBm.
For cost-sensitive and space-constrained applications, the MASWSS0107 surface-mount
3 mm PQFN-12 packaging and competitive
pricing are attractive attributes. It is fabricated
on a low-cost 0.5-micron gate-length GaAs
process with full passivation added for robust
reliability. Like its many switch counterparts
from M/A-COM, each MASWSS0107 is
100% RF tested and RoHS compliant to ensure
performance fulfillment.
M/A-COM
(800) 366-2266
www.macom.com
54
to 1 GHz. It features a measurement dynamic
range of 90 dB, enabling wide operating range
for receivers in such applications as automatic
gain control (AGC) loops. Additionally, the
device offers exceptional accuracy over
temperature, making it suitable for wireless
base stations, access points, subscriber radios,
and RF instrumentation subject to a range of
environmental conditions.
The LT5537 incorporates a cascading chain
of limiting amplifiers to provide a constant,
linear 20 mV/dB logarithmic detection function. Additionally, the device incorporates
on-chip compensation circuitry to yield an
accurate and stable output under varying
temperature environments. The device can
measure signals within an error of +/-1 dB
over the worst-case temperature extremes.
Moreover, the device has superior sensitivity,
capable of detecting RF signal levels as low
as –82 dBm. On the high side, the device can
measure up to +12 dBm input levels.
The LT5537 operates from a single supply
voltage ranging from 2.7 V to 5.25 V. Typical
operating current is 13.5 mA. The device can
be shut down by applying an external 0 V into
an ENBL pin. When disabled, the chip typically draws 500 μA quiescent current to conserve
power. The LT5537 is offered in an eight-lead
3 mm x 2 mm surface-mount DFN package.
The device requires few external components,
providing a compact, cost-effective solution. It
is priced at $2.95 each in 1000-piece quantities
and is available from stock.
Linear Technology Corporation
(408) 432-1900
www.linear.com
1 MHZ to 10 GHZ log-amp
Log amplifier enhances RF power
measurement
A new high-performance log detector from
Linear Technology has superior sensitivity,
allowing more accurate measurement of lower
levels of RF and IF signals. The LT5537 has a
wide operating frequency range from near dc
www.rfdesign.com
The AD8319 from Analog Devices Inc. is
a demodulating log-amp that combines wide
bandwidth, high accuracy over temperature,
low power consumption and small size for
wireless infrastructure, broadband wireless
September 2005
and radar applications. The AD8319 is the
latest addition to the company’s family of
power detectors/controllers and accurately
measures RF signals over a wide frequency
range of 1 MHz to 10 GHz. It also delivers a
combination of low power, small packaging
and fast output response time. The device
supports all cellular standards (GSM, CDMA,
W-CDMA and TD-SCDMA), broadband wireless standards (WiFi, WiMAX, WiBro), and
proprietary systems that operate in a variety
of frequency bands.
The AD8319 provides precise, temperaturestable performance over the full operating
range of -40 ºC to +85 ºC, and offers accurate
RF measurement of better than +/- 1 dB over
a dynamic range of 40 dB. The device can
also be used as a power controller when its
outputs are used to adjust a power amplifier
or a variable-gain amplifier. For radar applications, the device has an output response
time of 8 ns, enabling RF burst detection up
to 125 MHz.
The AD8319 operates over a supply voltage
range of 3 V to 5.5 V, and consumes only 20
mA; power consumption is reduced to less
than 1 mW when the device is disabled. Its
low power consumption and miniature singlechip, eight-lead LFCSP package is 2 mm x
3 mm, making the device ideal for portable
communications applications. The AD8319 is
sampling, with volume production scheduled
for November. It is priced at $2.99 in 1000unit quantities.
Analog Devices Inc.
(781) 937-1428
www.analog.com
Fully integrated mixer for 2.5G
and 3G base stations
Digital phase shifter
The DP-2-4-425-50-PX is a digital phase
shifter from Lorch Microwave that covers
400 MHz to 450 MHz. This unit features a 2
inch x 1 inch x 0.210 inch low-profile package.
Typical specifications include a 6.0 dB maximum insertion loss, a 1.5 to 1 voltage standing
wave ratio (VSWR) and a phase accuracy of
+/-2.8 ° at 425 MHz. The maximum switching
time is 1 ms. Current consumption is 25 mA at
+5 Vdc, and the operating temperature range
is –40 °C to +85 °C.
Lorch Microwave
(410) 860-5100
www.lorch.com
The MAX2031 from Maxim Integrated
Products is a fully integrated up- and
downconverting passive SiGe mixer with
an on-chip LO switch and buffer for 2.5G
and 3G cellular base-station applications.
This includes WCDMA, GSM850/GSM900
EDGE, cdma2000, and iDEN. The device
delivers 36 dBm IIP3, 27 dBm of IP1dB, 7
dB NF, and only 7 dB of conversion loss. In
addition, the MAX2031 exhibits excellent
second- and third-order spurious suppression.
The device offers an exceptionally wide dc to
250 MHz intermediate frequency (IF) range
with a 960 MHz to 1180 MHz high-side LO
injection range.
Frequency hopping is supported with the
integrated SPDT LO switch with switching
speeds of less than 50 ns and 49 dB of LO1-toLO2 isolation. The onboard 0 dBm drive, LO
buffer provides ±3 dB drive-variance control,
yielding stable gain, NF and IIP3 performance
over operating temperature, supply voltage
and input power. The third-order intercept
point (IIP3) is ±0.3 dB over temperature. The
device also has a gain variation of +0.2 dB to
-0.3 dB over the -40 ºC to +85 ºC industrial
temperature range.
The MAX2031 integrates many discrete
components, reducing the board space by a
factor of 2.5 and the component count by 33%.
The MAX2031 comes in a 5 mm x 5 mm, 20pin thin QFN package, which is pin compatible
with the MAX2039/MAX2041 series of 1700
MHz to 2200 MHz mixers. Lead-free packaging is available. Prices start at $6.15 in volume
quantities (1000 and up).
Maxim Integrated Products
(800) 998-8800
www.maxim-ic.com
Double-balanced passive mixers
cover 14 GHz to 32 GHz
Hittite Microwave Corporation has
released three SMT packaged GaAs MMIC
double-balanced mixers that are ideal for
upconverter and downconverter applications
Circle 35 or visit freeproductinfo.net/rfd
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www.rfdesign.com
September 2005
packages. Samples are available.
Hittite Microwave Corporation
(978) 250-3343
www.hittite.com
Monolithic array features dual
complimentary MOSFET pairs
in VSAT, microwave radio, test equipment
and industrial/automotive sensor applications
operating in the 14 GHz to 32 GHz frequency
range. The HMC260LC3B, HMC292LC3B,
and HMC329LC3B passive MMIC doublebalanced mixers exhibit conversion loss as low
as 7.5 dB, and an input third-order intercept
point (IP3) as high as +21 dBm. On-chip balun
structures enable LO to IF and LO to RF isolations as high as 40 dB. Each mixer operates
with a LO drive level as low as +9 dBm, and
offers wide IF bandwidth of dc to 8 GHz.
Requiring no dc voltage and no external
matching circuitry, these passive double-balanced mixers are versatile enough to cover
all microwave radio bands from 14 GHz to
32 GHz with a common package pin out.
The HMC260LC3B, HMC292LC3B and
HMC329LC3B are housed in Pb-free and
RoHS compliant 3 mm x 3 mm leadless SMT
Advanced Linear Devices Inc. (ALD) has
announced the ALD1105 monolithic complementary MOSFET arrays consisting of dual
N-channel and dual P-channel matched pairs
designed for precision signal switching and
amplifying applications that require high
current gain in a broad range of analog applications. The ALD 1105 is manufactured with
the company’s ACMOS silicon gate CMOS
process. The device consists of an ALD1116
N-channel MOSFET pair and an ALD1117 Pchannel MOSFET pair in on a single package
and is a low drain current, low leakage version
of the ALD1103 matched pairs. The transistor
pairs offer high input impedance of 1013 Ω, a
negative current (IDS) temperature coefficient
and is matched for minimum offset voltage
and differential thermal response. In applications ranging from +1 V to +12 V systems,
the ALD1105 is ideal where low input bias,
low input capacitance or fast switching speed
is desired.
This device is designed for precision applications that require very high current gain
(beta), such as current mirrors and current
sources. When configured in complementary
pairs, a dual CMOS analog switch can be
constructed. The ALD1105 is designed as a
building block for differential amplifier input
stages, transmission gates and multiplexer
applications. The high input impedance and
the high dc current gain of this MOSFET
matched pair result in extremely low current
loss through the control gate. The dc current
gain of 109 is limited by the gate input leakage
current, which is specified at 30 pA at room
temperature.
The ALD1105 dual N-channel and P-channel matched pair MOSFETs are available in
14-lead PDIP or SOIC packages and has a
low-threshold voltage of 0.7 V for N-channel
and P-channel MOSFETs. Pricing starts at
$1.00 in quantities of 1000 pieces.
Advanced Linear Devices Inc.
(408) 747-1155
www.aldinc.com
Voltage variable attenuator
Mini-Circuits’ RVA-2500, 10 MHz to
2500 MHz broadband voltage-variable
attenuators provide up to 55 dB (typical)
attenuation and +43
dBm IP3 (typical)
while
maintaining constant in/out VSWR and
insertion phase over
the full attenuation range. The RVA-2500
model has built-in biasing and matching networks, and typical switching time is 3 μs. The
RVA-2500 input can accept up to 100 mW of
input power. The device can be powered from
a maximum supply voltage of +12 V, and up
to +20 V can be applied to the attenuation
control input.
The RVA-2500 is a surface-mount shielded
case for superior performance on a printed
circuit board and can be operated over a –40
degree C to +85 degreeC temperature range.
Pricing starts from $9.95 each in 10-unit
quantities.
Mini-Circuits
(718) 934-4500
need website
Circle 37 or visit freeproductinfo.net/rfd
58
www.rfdesign.com
September 2005
Power amplifiers for 802.11b/g
wireless LAN
Microsemi Corporation has announced
a mid-range power amplifier for portable
802.11b/g wireless local area network applications that include PC and hand-held
client and access point products. The advanced InGaP HBT amplifier, designated the
LX5511, provides a power gain of up to 28
dB when operating in the 2.4 GHz to 2.5 GHz
frequency band for 802.11 b/g applications.
That places it between the LX5510B at 19
dB and the LX5512E at 32 dB in Microsemi’s
WLAN portfolio. The LX5511 power amplifier features active bias, power detection,
on-chip input/output matching plus the low
current consumption required in portable
applications.
The LX5511 power amplifier features a
single 3.3 V supply, plus excellent thermal
characteristics from its 16-pin micro-lead
package, which features a built-in heat sink
and a footprint that’s only 0.9 mm high and 3
mm square. Priced in 10,000-lot quantities at
45 cents, the LX5511 is available for sampling
and in pre-production quantities.
Microsemi Corporation
(800) 713-4113
www.microsemi.com
Crystal oscillators operate
at 2.4 GHz
NEL Frequency Controls Inc. has announced the (patent pending) ultra-highfrequency crystal oscillator available at
frequencies up to 2.4 GHz. This frequency
control solution is ideal for high-speed digital
designs where signal integrity is critical. Typical phase noise performance for 1 GHz is –130
dBc at 10 kHz. Versions are available with
a differential positive emitter-coupled logic
(DPECL) output (the SR-A29B0 series) and a
differential sine wave output (the SR-A2A70
series). The rms random jitter performance
is less than 1 picosecond from 12 kHz to 10
MHz. Stabilities are from +/-20 ppm over a
temperature range of 0 °C to 70 °C. A voltagecontrolled crystal oscillator (VCXO) version
with a DPECL output is also available. For
the VCXO version, a wide absolute pull range
(ApL) of +/-100 ppm is possible by varying
the voltage of the control signal.
The ultra-high-frequency crystal oscillator
undergoes the rigors of NEL’s HALT/ HASS
reliability program. It is tested to specific MIL
standards for mechanical and thermal shock.
It is also vibration tested (vibration 0.060-inch
double amplitude 10 Hz to 55 Hz, 35g’s 55
Hz to 2000 Hz). These units are available in
3.3 V and 2.5 V versions in a surface-mount
package that measures 9 mm x 14 mm.
NEL Frequency Controls Inc.
(262) 763-3591
www.nelfc.com
Power distribution switches
feature dynamic response
Micrel Inc. has added to its family of highcurrent protected power switches with the
MIC2014/15/16 chips, all featuring Kickstart
current limiting. The chips are part of the family of MIC20xx power distribution switches.
The new product line is aimed at applications
requiring current limiting as protection against
short circuits, including PCs, set-top-boxes,
game controllers and USB host devices.
The Kickstart feature enables current limit
protection for a wide variety of devices. Many
consumer devices now require an initial burst
of power, well above their steady state operating level, to get up and running. In turn, this
initial surge presents a problem to standard
current-limiting switches because they’re
designed to restrict these sudden surges in
current. Their response is incompatible with
the peripheral’s needs. The Kickstart feature
allows brief surges in current, enabling the
MIC2014/15/16 power switches to protect
loads against excessive power while avoiding
shutdown during peak power transients.
The ICs offer 70 mohm typical on-resistance, fault flagging and slew rate control—all
in small form factors. These ICs are capable
of serving multiple USB ports to provide cost
and space savings. Standard features include
a 2.5 V to 5.5 V operating range, an output
enable control input, thermal protection, undervoltage lock-out, low quiescent current and
fault masking that prevents nuisance alarms
on current surges or hot plug events. The
MIC2014/15/16 is available in two package
options: the SOT-23 and the 2 mm x 2 mm
ML. Pricing in 1000-unit quantities starts at
75 cents for the SOT-23 package and 85 cents
for the MLF package.
Micrel Inc.
(408) 944-0800
www.micrel.com
With Rohde & Schwarz
you get it all.
More accuracy.
Rohde & Schwarz instruments
consistently lead the industry in
accuracy. With us, you get the
highest performance and the most
advanced capabilities anywhere.
More speed.
Our advanced technology and
thoughtful operational features
help you get results faster.
More experience.
Since 1933 we’ve been pushing the
technology envelope, and our systems
are in use around the world.
More support.
Our users enjoy free telephone
support, fast service and calibration,
and on-site assistance.
When you choose
Rohde & Schwarz, you get
much more than just a box.
Get in touch and let us prove it.
rohde-schwarz.com/USA
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1-888-837-8772
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RF Design
www.rfdesign.com
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