High-Linearity Gain Blocks Encompass Full Suite of Options

May 31, 2023

Guerrilla RF’s GaAs pHEMT amplifiers provide additional degrees of freedom for RF/microwave designs.

This article is part of our IMS 2023 coverage.

At IMS 2023, visit Booth #241 to see Guerrilla RF's GRF2010 and GRF2011, which are two high-linearity gain blocks targeting infrastructure applications such as 5G/4G base stations, automotive telematics, and cellular repeaters/DAS. These new cores extend the gain coverage for GRF’s existing portfolio of general-purpose RF/microwave gain blocks.

When used with the popular GRF2013, an earlier device in the same family, customers can now choose from a family of devices offering nominal gain levels of 10, 15, and 18 dB. In addition, the entire set of components is drop-in compatible with the GRF2040, GRF2042, and GRF2043—Guerrilla RF’s corresponding collection of gain blocks with bypass.

Because the new gain variants utilize Guerrilla RF’s 1.5- × 1.5-mm DFN-6 package, designers can quickly modify existing hardware to support new bands and lineup requirements. Each of these DFN-6 modular cores can be easily swapped out to yield different levels of gain, linearity, and noise figure, all of which are critical parameters that define a radio’s overall performance and spec compliance.

The entire series of gain blocks provide exceptionally flat gain and flexible biasing options, which allows for high levels of reuse within a single design and across multiple platforms.

When employing a nominal 5-V bias and single match covering 400 to 4000 MHz, the GRF2010 draws 90 mA while delivering 10 dB of gain, 36 dBm of OIP3 linearity, a compression level of 20 dBm, and a noise figure of 3.1 dB. The GRF2011, with a single match tune of 700 to 3800 MHz, increases the gain offering to 15.2 dB, with 40 dBm of OIP3 linearity, 22.7 dBm of OP1dB compression, and an even lower noise figure of just 2 dB. Both devices can be tuned to operate over lower frequencies reaching down to 50 MHz.

Samples and evaluation boards are available for the GRF2010 and GRF2011. Prices start at $0.85 for each in quantities of 10,000 or more.

For more information, visit the company's website.

For more IMS 2023 coverage, visit our digital magazine.

About the Author

David Maliniak | Executive Editor, Microwaves & RF

I am Executive Editor of Microwaves & RF, an all-digital publication that broadly covers all aspects of wireless communications. More particularly, we're keeping a close eye on technologies in the consumer-oriented 5G, 6G, IoT, M2M, and V2X markets, in which much of the wireless market's growth will occur in this decade and beyond. I work with a great team of editors to provide engineers, developers, and technical managers with interesting and useful articles and videos on a regular basis. Check out our free newsletters to see the latest content.

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In his long career in the B2B electronics-industry media, David Maliniak has held editorial roles as both generalist and specialist. As Components Editor and, later, as Editor in Chief of EE Product News, David gained breadth of experience in covering the industry at large. In serving as EDA/Test and Measurement Technology Editor at Electronic Design, he developed deep insight into those complex areas of technology. Most recently, David worked in technical marketing communications at Teledyne LeCroy, leaving to rejoin the EOEM B2B publishing world in January 2020. David earned a B.A. in journalism at New York University.