Electronic Devices and Semiconductor Manufacturing Commons^™

Lna Lowers Noise, Raises Oip3 At 3.5 Ghz, Chin-Leong Lim

Chin-Leong Lim

A 3.5 GHz LNA with good noise figure, gain and linearity performances has been designed around a low-cost, QFN2x2-packaged monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC). Incorporation of bias regulator, ESD protection and stability network at chip-level reduces the external component count to 12. The proprietary 0.25 um EPHEMT process achieves +15-dB gain in single stage and less than 1 dB noise figure at 3.5 GHz.

Setting New Noise Performance Benchmarks Using Wideband Low-Noise High-Linearity Lnas, Chin-Leong Lim

Chin-Leong Lim

Objective: to design a 900 MHz Low-Noise Amplifier (LNA) using a MMIC fabricated on a new ultra low noise GaAs ePHEMT process. To demonstrate a new noise performance bench mark (F = 0.3 dB at IRL ≤ - 15 dB) for the plastic-packaged device class.

Material: The LNA consists of a Microwave Monolithic Integrated Circuit (MMIC) and 9 passive components mounted on a 21.5x18 mm2 Rogers RO4350 micro-strip PCB. The MMIC, which comprises a common-source amplifier and temperature-tracking active bias, is fabricated on a new GaAs ePHEMT process optimized for noise. As loss in the input matching network is proportional …

Lna Based On A Low Cost (~Usd1.30) Commercial Gaas Phemt Mmic Offers Wideband (0.4~1.4 Ghz) And Room-Temperature Low Noise (~0.3 Db) Performances That Satisfy The Ska Low Cost And No-Cooling Requirement, Chin-Leong Lim

Chin-Leong Lim

Introduction: New generations of radio telescopes such as the Square Kilometre Array consist of millions of receivers scattered over a continent. The array’s quantity and geographic considerations ruled out the traditional radio astronomy LNA implementation; i.e. costly InP devices cooled by high-maintenance closed-cycle helium (He) refrigerators. Several LNA designs have been proposed to address the cost and room-temperature operation constraints but none appear a clear winner. Peltier and package-scale cooling have also been proposed as a lower cost/maintenance alternative to He cooling but when multiplied by the quantity required can still carve a significant chunk of the budget. Additionally, cooling …

Pin Switch Protects Lna From Overloads, Chin-Leong Lim

Chin-Leong Lim

The objective of this paper is to describe how a Microwave Monolithic Integrated Circuit (MMIC) can be paired with an external PIN diode bypass switch in the implementation of a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) with overload protection feature for mobile TV receiver applications. In the preliminary phase of the design, competing schemes for reducing LNA gain were reviewed and their respective cost-performance trade-offs were benchmarked against the customer’s set of requirements. Based on the selected design, a “proof of concept” prototype was then assembled and tested. The key components of this switch by-passable LNA were sourced from in-house product portfolio, …

Lna With A Bypass Mode Improves Overload Resistance For Mobile Tv, Chin-Leong Lim

Chin-Leong Lim

Objective: This paper describes how a Microwave Monolithic Integrated Circuit (MMIC) can be paired with an external PIN diode bypass switch in the implementation of a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) with overload protection feature for mobile TV receiver applications.

Method: In the preliminary phase of the design, competing schemes for reducing LNA gain were reviewed and their respective cost-performance trade-offs were benchmarked against the customer’s set of requirements. Based on the selected design, a “proof of concept” prototype was then assembled and tested.

Material: The key components of this switch by-passable LNA were sourced from in-house product portfolio, consisting of …

Mass-Market Designed-For-Cellular Mmics Can Be Gainfully Adapted For Use In Niche Applications On Different Frequencies, Chin-Leong Lim

Chin-Leong Lim

Due to semiconductor manufacturers’ near exclusive focus on high growth markets such as cellular and wireless data, very little commercial RND resource is expended on developing Microwave Monolithic Integrated Circuits (MMIC) for the lower-volume traditional wireless services such as aviation and land mobile, etc. To circumvent the dearth of MMICs in those under-served market segments, we intend to show how off-the-shelf cellular MMICs can be leveraged into non-cellular applications. For this purpose, a MMIC originally conceived as a 900 MHz 0.5W driver amplifier is redeployed to two dissimilar applications: (i) a high linearity Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) for the 400~520 …