Passive mixer tailored for UHF-900MHz devices

Peregrine Semiconductor Corp. has released the UltraCMOS RFIC, the 50? PE4150 quad MOSFET core device, designed for mixer designs requiring low conversion loss and high linearity such as portable radios operating in bands from UHF through 900MHz.

The PE4150 is a highly linear passive mixer that incorporates an integrated LO amplifier with exceptionally high LO isolation. This allows for LO drive levels as low as -10dBm producing IIP3 values typically associated with 15dBm LO drive. The PE4150 operates with differential signals at the RF and IF ports and the integrated LO buffer amplifier drives the mixer core. The device can be used as an up converting or a down converting mixer.

"The PE4150 is a highly linear broadband mixer with low LO drive that can cover multiple bands in portable radios. This single device can operate from UHF through 900MHz eliminating the need to redesign each band," said Mark Schrepferman, director of communication and industrial products for Peregrine. "The PE4150 has low current drain as well as a 20?A low current mode to further prolong battery life," he added.

The PE4150 is manufactured on Peregrine's UltraCMOS process, a patented variation of silicon-on-insulator technology on a sapphire substrate, offering the performance of GaAs with the economy and integration of conventional CMOS. The PE4150 mixer, packaged in a 4mm x 4mm 20-lead QFN, is available in volume and is priced at $5.54 (10K units).