RFMW and Renesas will be attending IMS 2022 in Denver from June 21-23. Both companies will be promoting Renesas’:
- Sub-6 RF front end solutions
- mmWave and beamforming solutions
- Timing and synchronization products for radio cards and backhaul
Renesas Variable Gain Amplifiers:
Renesas offers digitally controlled intermediate frequency (IF) and radio frequency (RF) variable gain amplifiers (VGA) with FlatNoise™ technology, an innovative technology where noise does not degrade as gain is reduced. Renesas’ low-noise devices improve quality-of-service (QoS) and ease signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) requirements of the downstream data converter to reduce system cost.
The F0453B is an integrated dual-path RF front-end consisting of an RF switch and two gain stages with 6dB gain control used in the analog front-end receiver of an Active Antenna System (AAS). The F0453B supports frequencies from 3300MHz to 4000MHz.
The F0453B provides 34.5dB gain with +23dBm OIP3, +15dBm output P1dB, and 1.35dB noise figure at 3500MHz. Gain is reduced 6dB in a single step with a maximum settling time of 31ns. The device uses a single 3.3V supply and 130mA of IDD.
The F0453B is offered in a 5 x 5 x 0.8 mm, 32-LGA package with 50Ω input and output amplifier impedances for ease of integration into the signal path.
Renesas RF Amplifiers:
Renesas offers RF amplifiers with a variety of gain, noise figures, and linearity features in either differential or single-ended input impedances. The products feature innovative Zero-Distortion™ technology, enabling high output IP3 with very low current consumption – setting them apart from simple gain block amplifiers.
In addition, Renesas’ RF amplifiers feature built-in broadband baluns to support wide-band applications with differential inputs and outputs. The products are designed for high-reliability operation, using a SiGe amplifier die together with an integrated passive device (IPD) die and proven high-volume QFN packaging.
Renesas F0424 is a 600MHz to 5000MHz SiGe high-gain broadband RF amplifier. The combination of low noise figure (NF) and high linearity performance allows the device to be used in both receiver and transmitter applications.
It is designed to operate with a single 5V or 3.3V power supply using a nominal 70mA of ICC. With a supply voltage of 5V, the F0424 provides 17.3dB gain with +40dBm OIP3 and 2.3dB noise figure at 2600MHz. This device is packaged in a 2 × 2 mm, 8-DFN with 50Ω single-ended RF input and output impedances for ease of integration into the signal-path.
Renesas 5G mmWave Beamformers
Renesas’ latest dual polarization 5G mmWave devices are optimized for 2×2 antenna architecture for 5G and broadband wireless applications with best-in-class performance at n257, n258, and 261 bands. The highly integrated F5288 and F5268 transmit/receive (8T8R) chipsets sit on a small 5.1 x 5.1 mm BGA package and deliver the industry’s highest Tx output power capability in silicon – more than 15.5 dBm linear output power per channel.
The new F52x8 beamformer ICs are complemented by the highly integrated F5728 mmWave up/down converter addressing the 24.25 to 29.5 GHz spectrum. Now Renesas enables even more cost efficient radio design with extended signal reach for wireless infrastructure systems including wide area, small cell and macro base stations, as well as CPE, FWA access points, and other applications.
Key Features of Renesas’ 5G mmWave Beamformer Portfolio:
- 26.5 – 29.5 GHz (F5288) and 24.25 – 27.5GHz (F5268) operation
- Dynamic Array Power™ technology for graceful scaling of output power with high efficiency
- ArraySense™ technology with comprehensive on-chip sensor network to monitor IC performance in array operation and apply critical corrections in real-time
- RapidBeam™ advanced digital control technology enables simultaneous synchronous and asynchronous control of several beamformer ICs for extremely fast beam steering operations
- Advanced temperature compensation minimizes RF performance degradation with varying temperatures
- 360° phase control range with true 6-bit resolution and up to 31.5dB gain control with 0.5dB or 0.25dB steps
Renesas Satcom/Radar Beamformers and Low Noise Amplifiers (LNAs)
Renesas Satcom/Radar portfolio consists of a family of 2nd generation transmit/receive ICs and LNAs supporting the three popular frequency bands of Ku-Satcom, K/Ka-Satcom and Ku/CDL for satellite communications, point-to-point terrestrial communications and radar applications. These ICs maximize antenna array performance and power efficiency while also simplifying physical implementation. The IC physical footprints are optimized for integration with a 2×2 sub-array of dual-polarized elements having λ/2 spacing. State-of-the-art built-in power management features and excellent gain/phase orthogonality and channel-to-channel isolation greatly reduce the thermal management and calibration requirements relative to other solutions, thereby enabling the lowest overall solution cost.
Tx beamformers include F6521, F6522, and F6513 ICs covering the Ku- and Ka- Satcom uplink (Tx) frequency bands of LEO/MEO/GEO constellations and the Ku radar and Ku CDL bands. For downlink (Rx), the complementary part family consists of F6121, F6212/F6122 (module/standalone BFIC), and F6123 for Ku, K/Ka, and Ku/CDL bands, respectively. Renesas Rx beamformers may be paired with the F6921, F6922, and F6923 Dual-channel Low Noise Amplifiers to provide the highest possible G/T with the lowest system power consumption.
Renesas’ Range of RF Switches:
Renesas offers SPDT, SP4T and SP5T RF switches with Kz constant impedance technology, very low insertion loss, and high input IP3 performance. High-isolation switches feature wide frequency bandwidth and an extended operating temperature range for high-reliability applications. In addition, Renesas RF switches utilize advanced RF silicon semiconductor technology offering advantages over other technologies such as GaAs:
RF Synthesizers By Renesas:
RF synthesizers generate a wide range of high frequencies from a single, typically lower, reference frequency with an internal PLL. The output frequency is controlled by accessing the digital registers in the device through an SPI interface. The output frequency is generated by a fractional or integer ratio relative to the input signal.
Renesas offers very low phase noise, low spurious RF synthesizers that address the challenges of frequency generation for high-performance mixers, modulators, and demodulators in RF board designs. The RF synthesizers are also used to directly provide a clock reference to high-speed RF converters (ADC/DAC). The output frequency range incorporates low MHz to 18GHz.
The devices feature an integrated voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) with a large tuning range capable of providing multi-band local oscillator (LO) frequency synthesis, limiting the need for multiple narrow band RF synthesizers. This reduces the bill of materials and the design complexity, lowering the cost of developing radio frequency products. They provide solutions that address the challenges of frequency generation for high-performance mixers and demodulators in RF board designs.
The 8V97003 is a high-performance wideband microwave Synthesizer / Phase Lock Loop (PLL) that generates output frequencies up to 18GHz from an integrated Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO) offering an octave of frequency tuning range. The device offers a high-performance 32-bit fractional feedback divider and an output divider to allow users to fully benefit from the wideband characteristics of the VCO. The device’s figure of merit (FOM) of -236dBc/Hz and its excellent VCO performance allow for very low phase noise and RMS phase jitter. The 8V97003 offers a very low output-to-output phase skew drift of <10° across all operating conditions and frequencies, reducing radio path recalibration occurrences in beamforming applications, such as 5G radio card massive MIMO systems.
The output drivers have programmable output power settings and can deliver high single-ended output power up of +12dBm at 8GHz, and +4dBm at 18GHz, when using inductively loaded output terminations (double termination). When the outputs are resistively loaded, the output drivers can deliver a single-ended output power of +9.5dBm at 8GHz, and up to -2.5dBm at 12GHz. The output power can be further increased when using differential outputs and measuring the output power differentially. The 8V97003 relies on a single 3.3V power supply and offers low noise integrated LDOs for excellent power supply noise immunity.