CMOS-on-insulator RF power limiters are alternative to discrete, PIN-diode circuits
PE45140 and PE45450, for release in May 2014, are, Peregrine claims, the first turnkey, monolithic solutions to provide an alternative to discrete, PIN-diode limiters based on gallium arsenide (GaAs). UltraCMOS power limiters deliver simple, repeatable and reliable protection ideal for test-and-measurement, land-mobile-radio (LMR), wireless-infrastructure, military and radar systems.
On a chip eight times smaller than the board space required by discrete, PIN-diode solutions, Peregrine’s new power limiters provide a 10-100X improvement in response and recovery time; deliver greater than 40 dB improvement in linearity (IP3); and offer a 20X improvement in ESD (electrostatic discharge) protection.
next; comparison vs. PIN diodes
The features can be summarised as;
-
Attributes
UltraCMOS Power Limiter
GaAS PIN Diode Power Limiters
Small form factor
Yes
No
Requires no external components
Yes
No
Superior ESD rating
Yes
No
Adjustable limiting threshold
Yes
No
Power reflection mode
Yes
No
Protection in unpowered conditions
Yes
Yes
Excellent linearity
Yes
No
Sub-nanosecond response time
Yes
No
Wide bandwidth support
Yes
No
High power handling
Yes
Yes
Low insertion loss
Yes
Yes
These power limiters save PCB space with a small form factor; reduce BoM (bill of materials) by eliminating the need for extra components; and improve time to market. They also beat existing solutions in RF performance, including higher linearity to eliminate signal distortion, high ESD to ensure high reliability, wide bandwidth to enable design flexibility and fast response and recovery times to ensure robust protection of power-sensitive components. Based on UltraCMOS instead of GaAs, they can be closely integrated with other UltraCMOS RF components.
Use them, Peregrine suggests, on RF ports in test-and-measurement equipment; RF front ends and low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) in LMRs; RF receivers in wireless-infrastructure equipment; tactical radio receivers, to provide protection from intentional jammers in military warfare; and in transceiver (TRX) modules in radar systems.
Peregrine; www.psemi.com
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