Maxim Integrated Products looks to cut bill-of-materials (BOM) costs by 50% with the MAX2837, a single-chip WiMAX RF transceiver. How? This model eliminates voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) circuitry and surface-acoustic-wave (SAW) filters, and is designed with a zero-IF platform. It also integrates monolithic baseband filters for both the transceiver and transmitter, which saves both BOM and space. Lastly, the MAX2837 cuts materials and boosts performance using a digitally controlled crystal oscillator (DCXO). This enables the unit to use ±25-ppm (or higher) crystal, instead of a temperature-controlled crystal oscillator (TCXO). And combined with a 25-Hz step-size of integrated RF synthesizer, the DCXO allows the implementation of digital automatic frequency control (AFC) for improved system-range and data-throughput performance.
Specifically designed for OFDM-based orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing non-line-of-sight (NLOS) wireless broadband radio systems that function between 2.3 and 2.7 GHz, the MAX2837 is equipped for 802.16d/e fixed and mobile WiMAX, dual-mode WiMAX/Wi-Fi, Korean WiBro, and future 4G LTE systems. It touts a 2.3-dB receiver-noise figure, -11-dBm input IP3, -40-dBc integrated VCO phose-noise, and 25-mW power consumption. The receiver EVM is better than –35 dB, and the sideband suppression is >45 dB.
On the transmitter, the MAX2837 delivers 0-dBm linear output with 64-QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) signal, better than –36-dB EVM while meeting a 070-dBr spectral mask. The high linearity allows it to be used in WiMAX micro or pico basestations, in addition to subscriber customer premise equipment or PC card devices.
The transceiver is a 6- by 6 mm, 48-pin package. The MAX2837 requires a 2.7- to 3.6 V supply. Pricing starts at $8.38 (for 1000-unit orders or more).
Maxim Integrated Products: