hf/rf ZONE Products for the week of December 6, 2004
Peregrine Semiconductor Says . . .
PE4263: CMOS RF Switch Directly Connects To Antenna
in GSM Handsets
UltraCMOS Technology Paves Way For Smallest ASM
Peregrine Semiconductor, a leading supplier of high-performance RF CMOS and mixed-signal communications ICs, announced the availability of the PE4263 SP6T RF antenna switch, the latest market-leading innovation in its expanding RF product portfolio. The PE4263 switch provides a unique, high-performance solution to the quad-band GSM handset Antenna Switch Module (ASM) markey by offering high power at 41 dBm P1dB; high linearity of 65 dBm IP3; and monolithic integration of key elements including a control logic decoder and driver. This high-power device, developed on the Company's patented UltraCMOS process technology, advances the cellular phone industry past traditional roadblocks in performance and size, enabling new roadmaps to be drawn for next generation ASM designs. Today, for the first time ever, a CMOS-based IC can be directly connected to the antenna of a GSM handset. Early designs incorporating the PE4263 have been validated and production is ramping with global cellular handset market-leaders.
Peregrine's 50-Ohm PE4263 die provides superior performance, lower insertion loss, smaller footprint and higher integration to alternate pin-diode or pHEMT-based designs. This innovative 2.6V switch operates from 100 - 3000 MHz and provides many extraordinary features, including 1500 V ESD tolerance at all ports; no blocking capacitors; 45 dB of isolation; low insertion loss of 0.55 dB at 915 MHz; and fast switch settling time.
"Designers have long been constrained by the limitations of exotic
technologies such as pHEMT used in the development of high-power, high-throw
switch ICs. The fundamental advantages of the UltraCMOS process -- repeatability,
reliability and RF monolithic integration -- allow Peregrine to engineer
revolutionary devices like the PE4263. In fact, UltraCMOS is changing the
way RF applications are designed," stated Jim Cable, president and
CEO of Peregrine Semiconductor. "This device delivers a simple, and
profoundly different approach to solving the toughest high-power, high-throw
cellular switching challenges," he added.
analogZONE Says . . .
The PE4263 in die and its QFN-20 sibling, the PE4268, represent a major jump in technology in antenna switching providing, at last, a CMOS-based process as an alternative to a GaAs device or a PIN diode. Perergrine has also followed these devices with a 75-ohm switch (SPDT), the PE4274, for cable TV (also in QFN-20).
The die release of the PE4263 is very appropriate for the module approach that is the norm for multi-frequency front-ends in handsets, and the SP6T architecture allows for the connection to two different transmit channels and four receive channels.
Performance numbers, as we will see, are as good as, and in some cases better, than GaAs while the process, although a deviant from standard CMOS, is going to still be more economical. This is not the place to explain the process and a brief explanation of the silicon-on-sapphire technology can be found here. It is important to note that Peregrine does manufacture its own product and is not reliant on external fabs but they do have a strategic partnership with OKI Electric in Tokyo for additional manufacturing facilities.
The PE4263 offers, just for starters, a system where blocking capacitors are not required and where every port has a 1500-V ESD protection (HBM). The quiescent current from a nominal 2.6-V supply (absolute maximum is 4.0 V) is a typical 13 µA while the absolute maximum voltage swing on any port must be less than ±300 mV.
The ac numbers are impressive. They are best seen in the graphical representations in the data sheet. The part operates from 0 Hz to 3 GHz and the insertion loss of the transmit channels varies from about 0.55 dB at 900 MHz to 0.65 dB at 1.9 GHz. On the receive channels the same numbers are about 0.9 dB and 1.0 dB. The transmit-to-transmit isolation is graphed as -30 dB (why minus?) at 900 MHz and about 25 dB at 1.9 GHz with the transmit-to-receive isolations -- much more important -- coming in about 49 dB and 41 dB. S11 on all the ports is better than 20 dB across the frequencies of interest.
All the transmit harmonics depend, of course, on the power levels and the 2nd harmonics at 915 MHz range from -58 dBm at +30 dBm input power to -50 dBm at +36 dBm. The 3rd harmonics for the same range are from -45 dBm to -35 dBm. Those worsen about 8 dB for 2nd-order at 1.9 GHz and 7 dB for 3rd-order harmonics. In dBc those are low to mid 80s for 2nd harmonic and mid 60s to low 70s for 3rd harmonic, very workable numbers. P1dB is sitting way over the power levels being used, at +41 dBm.
The six-position switch control is with three pads and the logic on them, with two redundant choices in the truth table.
An extremely interesting product that is a sure-fire hit in the handset market for quad-band GSM. The fact that the product is also usable at much lower and higher frequencies also opens up some lower volume, but much more profitable, alternative applications.
In production, the PE4263 is in a 1.24 mm x 1.2 mm die priced at a very competitive $0.60 in 10-k piece lots.