Peregrine Expands RF Digital Step Attenuator range
RF silicon on insulator (SOI) firm Peregrine Semiconductor has announced the UltraCMOS PE4314, a 75Ω glitch-less RF digital step attenuator (DSA). This new DSA supports a frequency range from 1MHz to 2.5 GHz and extends Peregrine's existing glitch-less DSA portfolio to 75Ω.
The PE4314 is designed for wired broadband applications in cable/satellite customer premises equipment (CPE) and infrastructure equipment.
The 75Ω PE4314 joins Peregrine's 50Ω glitch-less DSAs-the PE43711, the PE43712 and the PE43713-in offering glitch-less attenuation state transitions. When switching attenuation states with a DSA, there is a brief 'glitch' or transient spike in output power.
This glitch, if left alone, could lead to degraded signal quality and possible damage to power amplifier sub-assemblies. To minimise this glitch, engineers deploy a software or firmware workaround that reduces the effect of this transient spike. With a Peregrine glitch-less DSA, this output power glitch is significantly reduced to less than 0.5 dB, enabling customers to decrease their engineering overhead and prevent damage to expensive sub-assemblies.
"As the founders of RF SOI, Peregrine is recognised as a performance leader in RF products," says Kinana Hussain, director of marketing at Peregrine Semiconductor. "Peregrine introduced the world's first single-chip DSA in 2004, and we are now expanding our DSA portfolio to include this 75Ω solution to solve one of our customers' biggest challenges-attenuation state transition glitches."
The device is pin-for-pin compatible upgraded version of the PE4304, PE4307, PE4308 and PE43404 DSAs. It covers a 31.5 dB attenuation range in a 0.5 dB step. It is capable of maintaining 0.5dB monotonicity through 2.5 GHz.
An integrated digital control interface supports both serial and parallel programming of the attenuation, including the capability to program an initial attenuation state at power up. The DSA supports 1.8V control voltage and has an extended operating temperature range up to 105degC.
