Inphi Corporation Debuts First Ever Commercial Prescalers for Advanced Synthesizer Applications up to 25 GHz

New high-frequency microwave circuits deliver excellent input sensitivity and low phase noise to equipment manufacturers in the commercial, military, and government markets
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. -- Strengthening its leadership in high-performance electronic components, Inphi Corporation has announced six prescalers for advanced synthesizer applications requiring low and stable phase noise at frequencies from DC to 25 GHz. These devices are typically used in high-frequency phase-locked loop (PLL) oscillator circuits. They are designed for a broad array of microwave and communications systems, including point-to-point and point-to-multipoint digital radios, radar, electronic warfare, satellite communications, and avionics applications.
Until now, prescalers above 14 GHz were not commercially available, which presented serious limitations for synthesizers at higher frequencies. Inphi's new family of prescalers extends the applicability of this class of devices up to 25 GHz, which represents a major breakthrough in microwave circuit technology and paves the way for innovative and cost-effective commercial, military, and aerospace applications.
"Inphi's 25 GHz prescalers enable the development of high-performance dielectric resonator oscillators targeting both the commercial digital radio and the military and aerospace markets," said Mark Shahriary, CEO of Lucix Corporation in Camarillo, California "With these devices, equipment manufacturers can significantly improve system performance in terms of phase noise to ensure that the RF output signals are clean and the integrity of the data is preserved."
Inphi's prescaler circuits, listed in Table 1, perform divide-by-2, divide-by-4, or divide-by-8 functions and operate from DC to 25 GHz. Available in both positive and negative power supply versions, these prescalers exhibits high input power sensitivity, low added phase noise (see Figure 1), low output harmonics (see Figure 2), and low DC power consumption across a wide frequency range.

Inphi's divide-by-2 and divide-by-4 prescalers are currently sampling with OEM customers, and the divide-by-8 prescalers will be available for sampling in June. These products are available in a ceramic surface mount package or in die form, or on an evaluation board with SMA connectors. Unit pricing for the 25668DV and 25669DV divide-by-4 circuits is $50 (die) and $74 (packaged) for production quantities of 5,000 units.


About Inphi
Founded in November 2000, Inphi Corporation is a privately held electronic components company based in Westlake Village, California. Inphi delivers high-speed integrated circuits that optimize power, performance, and size, enabling customers to build the highest performance, most cost-competitive telecommunications, data communications, and instrumentation systems. Additional information about the company can be found at www.inphi-corp.com.