News | November 27, 2012

TriQuint's New Cost-Effective LNAs Combine High Linearity And Very Low Noise Over Broad Bandwidths

Versatile New LNAs Cover 50 MHz-4 GHz With Cost-Effective, High Performance

Hillsboro, OR (USA) and Richardson, TX – TriQuint Semiconductor Inc., a leading RF solutions supplier and technology innovator, recently introduced two packaged low-noise amplifier (LNA) gain blocks that deliver cost-effective high performance over very broad bandwidths of 50 MHz to 4 GHz. They combine very high linearity with very low noise figures, making them ideal for use in the transmit and the receive sections of high-performance GSM, WCDMA, CDMA, and LTE base transceiver stations and defense applications.

In addition to their high performance in wireless infrastructure, the new TQP3M9035 and TQP3M9038 can be used in a wide variety of systems ranging from repeaters and tower-mounted amplifiers to defense communications and general-purpose circuits in which a highly linear, broadband low-noise gain block is required.

The new TQP3M9035 has a high Third-Order Intercept Point (OIP3) of +37dBm, and a very noise figure of 0.66dB, gain of 16.5dB, and RF output power at 1dB gain compression (P1dB) of 22.5dB. Typical uses include the first, second or third LNAs in receivers and in transmit gain block amplifiers, IF gain block amplifiers and IF amplifiers for very small aperture terminals (VSATs) as well as point-to-point microwave radios. The device also has integrated digital shut-down biasing capability required by TDD-LTE systems. The TQP3M9038 has an OIP3 of +39.5dBm, a noise figure of 2dB, flat gain response of 14.9dB (which deviates only +/-0.3dB from 500 MHz to 3.5 GHz), and P1dB RF output power of +21.6dBm.

TriQuint's high-performance E-pHEMT process was employed to provide internal matching for both new devices. Internal matching eliminates the need for many typical external optimization circuits even though the devices operate over a very broad frequency range. Only an external RF choke and blocking/bypass capacitors are required for operation from a single +5V supply. Power consumption of the TQP3M9035 is only 110 mA and 85 mA for the TQP3M9038. Both devices employ internal active bias circuits that allow stable operation over variations in bias and temperature. The TQP3M9035 is housed in a 2x2mm DFN package and the TQP3M9038 is offered in a 3x3mm QFN package; both are RoHS compliant.

Technical Details:

TQP3M9035	50 MHz to 4 GHz high linearity low-noise amplifier; 0.66dB noise figure; +37dBm OIP3; +22.5dBm P1dB RF output power; 16.5dB gain. It offers shut-down capability, internal matching; it operates from a single +5V supply at 110 mA; 2x2mm DFN plastic package.
TQP3M9038	50 MHz to 4 GHz high linearity low noise amplifier, 2dB noise figure, +39.5dBm OIP3, 21.6dB P1dB RF output power, extremely flat gain response of 14.9dB +/-0.3dB (500 MHz-3.5 GHz). It is internally matched; it operates from a single +5V supply at 85 mA; 3x3mm QFN package.

The new TQP3M9035 and TQP3M9038 are currently in production. Fully-assembled 500 MHz to 4 GHz evaluation fixtures are available for the TQP3M9035. Fixtures for the TQP3M9038 include IF versions (50 to 500 MHz) and RF versions (500 MHz to 4 GHz).

Source: TriQuint Semiconductor Inc.