VGA and VVA Fit Surface-Mount Packs

Feb. 2, 2011

Two devices with variable outputs, a voltage variable attenuator (VVA) and a variable gain amplifier (VGA), are available from Hittite Microwave Corp. in RoHS-compliant 3 x 3 mm QFN plastic surface-mount-technology (SMT) packages. The attenuator, model HMC973LP3E, provides as much as 26 dB attenuation from 500 MHz to 6 GHz. Attenuation is tuned by means of control voltages from 0 to +5 VDC. It offers input third-order intercept of +35 dBm for excellent linearity. The amplifier, model HMC972LP5E, uses a single control voltage from 0 to +5 VDC to control as much as 35 dB signal attenuation and as much as 15 dB small-signal gain, for a total amplitude range of 50 dB. It has a noise figure of 7.5 dB and output third-order intercept to +28 dBm.

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.