Linear Technology Announces Quadrature Modulator For GSM Basestations And RFID Readers

Milipitas, CA -- A new high performance quadrature modulator from Linear Technology is optimized for 850MHz to 965MHz GSM, CDMA2000, ISM, and RFID modulator applications. The LT5568 accepts I (In phase) and Q (Quadrature phase) baseband signals and modulates directly to the RF transmission frequency. The product features linearity with an OIP3 (Output 3rd Order Intercept Point) of 22.9dBm and an OIP2 (Output 2nd Order Intercept Point) of 63dBm at 850MHz. The LT5568's noise floor is -160.3dBm/Hz, and its image rejection is -46dBc with an LO leakage of -43dBm. This device meets or exceeds the range requirements of GSM cellular basestations as well as other wireless infrastructure transmitters.

The LT5568 is a highly integrated chip comprising two matched, high linearity mixers, a precision 0° and 90° phase shifter, a 50 Ohm LO input buffer, 50 Ohm I and Q inputs, and an on-chip RF transformer with an output matched to 50 Ohms within the band of 700MHz to 1050MHz. The RF transformer sums the modulated signals from the I and the Q channel mixers' outputs, and converts the differential signal to that of a single-ended output. The LO input is also single-ended.

At LO input power of 0dBm, leakage to the RF output at 850MHz is -43dBm, uncalibrated. Similarly, the on-chip precision phase shifter is accurate to better than one-half degree mismatch, enabling an uncalibrated image rejection performance of -46dBc.

The LT5568 operates from a single 5V supply voltage. Typical operating current is 117mA. The device can be shut down by an ENABLE pin. When disabled, the chip draws 50uA maximum quiescent current to conserve power. For half-duplexing or time-division multiplexed operating modes, the chip can be switched on and off rapidly using the ENABLE pin. The LT5568 is offered in a 16-pin 4mm x 4mm surface mount QFN package.

SOURCE: Linear Technology Corporation