5 June 2014

Peregrine ships first monolithic power limiters

In booth #515 at the IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium (IMS 2014) (3-5 June), Peregrine Semiconductor Corp of San Diego, CA, USA - a fabless provider of radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) based on silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) and silicon-on-insulator (SOI) - has announced the availability of the UltraCMOS PE45140 and PE45450 RF power limiters.

Peregrine claims that the power limiters represent the first turnkey, monolithic solutions to provide an alternative to discrete PIN-diode limiters based on gallium arsenide (GaAs). The form factor is as much as eight times smaller than PIN diode solutions.

With wide frequency ranges of 20MHz to 2GHz and 9kHz to 6GHz respectively, both the PE45140 and PE45450 feature: high maximum power handling up to 50W (+40dBm CW and +47dBm pulsed); greater than 40dB linearity (IIP3) improvement over PIN diode solutions (+64dBm for the PE45140 and +70dBm for the PE45450); fast response-and-recovery time of less than 1ns (protecting systems from RF power spikes and surges in harsh environments); and ESD ratings as high as 8kV HBM (protect RF ports from ESD events and enable the devices to operate as ESD clamps). The adjustable limiting threshold (P1dB) starts as low as +22dBm (PE45140) and +25dBm (PE45450), respectively, and reaches as high as +32dBm (PE45140) and +35dBm (PE45450). Insertion loss is 0.20dB @ 1GHz and 0.60dB @ 2GHz for the PE45140 and 0.45dB @ 2GHz and 0.80dB @ 6GHz for the PE45450. Return loss is 16dB @ 1GHz and 10dB @ 2GHz for the PE45140 and 13dB @ 2GHz and 17dB @ 6GHz for the PE45450.

“Because we were able to architect the entire solution onto a single chip, Peregrine’s programmable power limiters offer unique flexibility and unprecedented, robust RF protection,” says senior marketing manager Kinana Hussain.

Peregrine’s programmable power limiters feature two operating modes - power limiting and power reflecting - selectable through a low-current, analog voltage on the control pin (VCTRL). In power-limiting mode, the device is invisible to the load, and features very low insertion loss and high linearity. When the incoming RF-signal power exceeds the limiting threshold set through the VCTRL pin, the device limits the input RF power. In power-reflecting mode, the device reflects most of the incident power back to the source. This mode also uses an external power detector to sample the input RF power and toggle the VCTRL pin from power-limiting to power-reflecting mode for maximum protection. The power limiters also protect RF ports in unpowered or unbiased conditions.

Now shipping, the components offer repeatable and reliable protection designed for test & measurement, land mobile radio (LMR), wireless infrastructure, military and radar systems.

Peregrine designed the UltraCMOS PE45140 to accommodate the frequency ranges needed in military, LMR and radar applications. Specifically, the power limiter can protect RF front-ends and low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) in LMRs; tactical radio receivers from intentional jammers in military warfare; and transceiver (TRX) modules in radio-location, shipborne and air-traffic-control (ATC) radar systems. Designed for higher frequency ranges, the PE45450 can protect RF ports in test & measurement equipment and RF receivers in wireless-infrastructure equipment.

Because the PE45140 and PE45450 do not need additional external components (such as DC blocking capacitors, RF choke inductors and bias resistors), the power limiters reduce the overall power-limiting-function footprint and bill-of-materials (BOM) costs. Available now in a compact 12-lead 3mm x 3mm QFN package, the PE45140 costs $6.90 each and the PE45450 costs $7.80 each, respectively, in 10,000-quantity orders. Evaluation kit boards are $130 each.

Tags: Peregrine CMOS SOI

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