RF Subsystems Satisfy 3G And 4G Base Stations

Although wireless-infrastructure spending suffered a slowdown over the last few years, development continued to thrive. To inspire spending and upgrades that will support more data-centric networks, recent products blend performance and features at more reasonable prices. An example is Skyworks Solutions' RF subsystems for next-generation cellular-infrastructure equipment and other wireless-transceiver applications. By leveraging radio-frequency integrated-circuit (RFIC) designs, these devices claim to maximize the performance, reliability, cost-efficiency, and design simplicity of third- and fourth-generation (3G and 4G) base-station transceivers.

The latest Skyworks direct-conversion-radio-transceiver (DCR) component to be introduced is the SKY73010 single-chip, direct-quadrature modulator. This modulator accepts input frequencies from direct current (DC) to 250 MHz with a broad RF and local-oscillator (LO) frequency range of 300 to 2500 MHz. At a LO input power of 0 dBm, it provides a notable broadband noise floor of −155 dBm/Hz with 35 and 45 dBc carrier and sideband suppression, respectively.

This new modulator complements the company's other DCR BTS building blocks, such as the direct-quadrature demodulator and direct-conversion mixer. When these products are coupled, the resulting DCR infrastructure subsystem solutions vow to reduce board size and component count. Other key building blocks in Skyworks' subsystem platforms include power-amplifier (PA) drivers, high-gain linear PA modules, dual fractional-N synthesizers, and diversity downconverters.

The SKY73010 is manufactured in a Silicon-Germanium, BiPolar Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (SiGe BiCMOS) process. It comes in a lead-free, 16-pin, 4-×-4-mm, RF land-grid-array (RFLGA) surface-mount package. The SKY73010 direct-quadrature modulator is immediately available. It is priced at $5.25 in quantities of 10,000.