Content

SiGe BiCMOS Process Spawns Frequency Converters

Sept. 11, 2008

Hittite Microwave Corp. has launched seven new silicon germanium (SiGe) BiCMOS mixer integrated circuits (ICs) for broadband frequency upconversion and downconversion applications from 0.7 to 3.9 GHz. Each IC incorporates a double-balanced mixer and a local-oscillator (LO) amplifier that combine to provide third-order-intercept (IP3) performance as good as +35 dBm when operating with only 0-dBm LO drive. Models include the 0.7-to-1.0-GHz HMC684LP4E, 1.7-to-2.2-GHz HMC685LP4E, 2.0-to-2.7-GHz HMC688LP4E, and 3.1-to3.9-GHz HMC666LP4E. All four have single-ended LO and RF ports and differential intermediate-frequency (IF) ports with range of DC to 500 MHz. The conversion loss is as low as 7 dB with as much as 30-dB port-to-port (LO-to-RF and LO-to-IF) isolation. The frequency converters are supplied in RoHS-compliant 4 x 4 mm QFN packages and operate from a single +5-VDC supply.

About the Author

Jack Browne | Technical Contributor

Jack Browne, Technical Contributor, has worked in technical publishing for over 30 years. He managed the content and production of three technical journals while at the American Institute of Physics, including Medical Physics and the Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology. He has been a Publisher and Editor for Penton Media, started the firm’s Wireless Symposium & Exhibition trade show in 1993, and currently serves as Technical Contributor for that company's Microwaves & RF magazine. Browne, who holds a BS in Mathematics from City College of New York and BA degrees in English and Philosophy from Fordham University, is a member of the IEEE.