Cell Phone Upconverter/Driver IC Saves Current, Space, Cost

Designed for Japanese N-CDMA and PDC applications in the 900-MHz frequency band, the MAX2307 chip boasts of low current consumption and small size and allows cell phone designs to replace a SAW filter with a low-cost inductor. The IC contains a double-balanced, variable-gain upconverter mixer, variable-gain power amplifier driver, an LO buffer, and bias circuitry to control the two shutdown modes of the device. When the device is putting out its maximum linear power of +6.5 dBm, it draws only 34 mA from a 2.8V to 4.2V supply. When backed off from peak power by 10 dB, current draw automatically reduces to 18 mA without user interaction. The device comes in a new 1.5 mm x 2 mm ultra-CSP package. It is compatible with low-cost pc boards using standard design rules and via size. The MAX2307 is priced starting at $1.33 each/1,000.