6 November 2012

Hittite launches cellular transceiver RFICs for wideband infrastructure

Hittite Microwave Corp of Chelmsford, MA, USA (which designs and supplies analog, digital and mixed-signal RF, microwave and millimeter-wave ICs, modules and subsystems as well as instrumentation) has launched a receiver (Rx) and transmitter (Tx) radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) chipset that suits frequency conversion applications in wireless infrastructure equipment such as base transceiver stations, remote radio units, small cells, and repeaters from 700-3500MHz.

The HMC1190LP6GE is a high-linearity dual-channel downconverter with integrated phase-locked loop and voltage-controlled oscillator (PLL/VCO) that operates at 700-3500MHz and is designed specifically for multi-standard receiver applications requiring a compact and low-power solution. The device delivers 8dB conversion gain, with IP3 and input P1dB performance of +24dBm and +11dBm, respectively. In support of high-IF receivers and antenna diversity architectures, 2x2 spurious products are typically below -70dBc. The HMC1190LP6GE’s RF and LO inputs are single-ended, while an enable/disable pin makes it possible to reduce power consumption dynamically as conditions allow. Balanced high-linearity passive mixer cores combined with high-linearity IF amplifiers deliver LO-to-RF, LO-to-IF, and RF-to-IF isolation.

For transmit applications, the HMC1197LP7FE is a low-noise, high-linearity direct quadrature modulator with integrated fractional-N PLL/VCO that is rated for operation at 100-4000MHz. The wideband transmitter solution delivers high output IP3 of +30dBm, with up to +10.5dBm of output power and a low noise floor of -160dBm/Hz. The single-ended RF output port is matched to 50 Ohms with no external components, while the auxiliary LO output enables the device to distribute identical frequency and phase signals to multiple destinations within the transmitter or receiver. An integrated programmable bandwidth low-pass filter (LPF) in the LO path ensures little or no LO contribution to modulator sideband rejection. Sixteen programmable LPF bands enable true wideband operation and allow agile LO frequency filtering for different band plans during and after deployment.

Both the HMC1190LP6GE and HMC1197LP7FE incorporate a feature-rich PLL and wideband VCO. The PLL features a very low figure of merit (FOM) of -230dBm/Hz in integer mode, while the internal VCO section can generate frequencies of 50-4100MHz. The integrated phase detector (PD) and delta-sigma modulator within the HMC1190LP6GE and HMC1197LP7FE are capable of operating at up to 100MHz, permitting wider loop-bandwidths with excellent spectral performance. The PLL/VCO section can phase adjust and synchronize multiple Hittite Tx and Rx RFICs, enabling scalable MIMO and beam-forming radio architectures. Additional PLL/VCO features include a configurable output mute function, and an Exact Frequency Mode that enables both products to generate fractional frequencies with 0Hz frequency error and the ability to synchronously change frequencies without changing the phase of the output signal.

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