ADI announces low noise wideband synthesizer
Analog Devices Inc (ADI) has announced a SiGe wideband synthesizer with an integrated voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) that is said to provide the industry's lowest phase noise performance on a single chip.
The ADF5610 fractional-N synthesizer generates RF outputs from 55 MHz to 15 GHz and is suitable for diverse market applications including aerospace and defence, wireless infrastructure, microwave point-to-point links, electronic test and measurement, and satellite terminals.
When compared to alternative solutions that require multiple narrowband GaAs voltage controlled oscillators and phase-locked loops (PLLs), the ADF5610 offers 50 percent less power dissipation, smaller footprint and simpler architecture which translates into bill of materials cost savings and reduced time to market.
Developed on ADI's proprietary advanced SiGe BiCMOS process, the ADF5610 enables high modulation bandwidths and low BIT error rates. It features industry leading VCO phase noise (-114dBc/Hz at 100kHz offset and -165 dBc/Hz at 100 MHz offset both at 10GHz) and low normalised phase noise floor (FOM) of -229dBc/Hz. The integrated PLL function provides fast frequency hopping and lock times (<50 μs with appropriate loop filter). The phase detector spurious levels are below -45dBc typical, and the RF output power level is dBm.
The ADF5610 is fully supported by the ADIsimPLL, Analog Devices' PLL synthesizer design and simulation tool for assessing phase noise, lock time, jitter and other design considerations. The device is also customer programmable through the use of integrated SPI interface and control software.
The ADF5610 is specified over the -40degC to +85degC range. It operates from nominal 3.3V analog and digital power supplies as well as 5V charge-pump and VCO supplies, and feature 1.8-V logic-level compatibility. The synthesizer also contains hardware and software power down modes.
