News

12 November 2008

 

M/A-COM launches wide-band VHF power amplifier modules

At this week’s Electronica 2008 event in Munich, Germany, M/A-COM Technology Solutions Inc of Lowell, MA, USA has launched a new pair of 10W and 40W wide-band VHF power amplifier modules, which shorten the final application design stage in mobile, portable and base-station communication systems for microwave and RF applications. The multi-modulation modules consist of a driver and an output stage with built-in amplitude equalization and feedback networks.

“The 10W and 40W values were chosen to represent the output power that was technically achievable over five octaves of performance, along with linearity and efficiency,” says Gary Lopes, director & general manager of M/A-COM Technology Solutions' Power Hybrids operation. The internal design helps to keep the modules compact and suits a wide range of mobile communications systems, he adds.

The MAPM-020512-010C00 (10W) device is a dual-stage module with over 20dB of gain. It also includes an ALC control pin that can be used for signal modulation, tight gain flatness or temperature correction, or other similar applications. When the ALC (automatic level control) input is used for AM modulation, an external envelope detector is used to sense the output envelope of the power amplifier and supply a feedback signal to the ALC loop to linearize modulation. Modulation bandwidths spans from DC to over 1MHz, making the 10W module useful for voice, data or even video transmission. The device operates in a frequency range of 20-512MHz. The supply voltage is 30V, the input power is 20dBm, the output power is 20W, and the bias current is 1A.

The MAPM-020512-040C00 (40W) device is similar to the MAPM-020512-010C00 in both size and performance and also operates at 20-512MHz, but includes a DC gate bias pin for the MOSFETs rather than an ALC control pin. The supply voltage is 30V, the input power is 10W, the output power is 30W, and the bias current is 3A.

Both modules have an operating case temperature range of -40ºC to 100ºC and can be stored in temperatures ranging from -50ºC to 100ºC.

See related item:

Cobham forms M/A-COM Technology Solutions

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