Antenna switch keeps RF systems in tune

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team Feb 22, 2008

The challenge of adding tuning capabilities to mobile devices has been on the whiteboards of antenna designers for many years.

Peregrine Semiconductor has unveiled the UltraCMOS PE42641 SP4T antenna tuning switch delivering an unparalleled IMD performance of -110dBm, making it ideal for converged designs requiring high linearity and low distortion.

A variety of emerging market applications benefit from the exceptional RF performance advantages of the PE42641 switch, including 3G GSM/Edge/WCDMA and CDMA handset and PC card applications; machine-to-machine applications such as vending machines and parking meters; or designs requiring antenna tuning, such as repeater and telematics applications.

The UltraCMOS silicon-on-sapphire based PE42641 incorporates Peregrine's revolutionary HaRP technology enhancements to deliver exceptional harmonic results, linearity and overall RF performance: high linearity of +68dBm IP3 or -110dBm IMD; harmonics better than -80dBc, low insertion loss of 0.5dB (typical); high isolation 35dB at critical paths; and complete monolithic integration.

Additionally, the new switch offers Class 2 ESD (2kV HBM) on all pins, and Class 3 (4kV HBM) at the antenna, which is the highest antenna-pin ESD protection available today.

With the UltraCMOS PE42641, the industry is finally able to deliver on the promise of tuning capability in mobile devices, a challenge which has been on the whiteboards of antenna designers for many years.

The PE42641 is Peregrine's first step in supporting the emerging market of tunable components.

Further, as with the entire Peregrine portfolio, this SP4T is developed on UltraCMOS which is a standard CMOS technology.

It leverages all the same low-cost, high-value benefits in manufacturing yields, scalability and ease-of-use, while delivering the unprecedented performance offered only with our proprietary sapphire substrate.

For high-performance switch applications at any throw-count, UltraCMOS is the future.

Peregrine's 50ohm PE42641 2.75V RF switch operates from 100-3000MHz and provides many additional features, including onboard CMOS logic which facilitates 1.8 or 2.75V control; 4.5ohm series on-resistance; no blocking capacitors; and fast switch settling time.

The device is available in the ultra-compact, RoHS-compliant 3 x 3 x 0.75mm TQFN package and is priced at US $0.91 in volume (100,000 units).