Author Archives: david manners

LTC double-balanced mixer can be up or down-converter

LTC5549 typical application

LTC5549 typical application

Linear Technology announces the LTC5549, a double-balanced mixer that can operate either as an up-converter or down-converter, with a very wide RF frequency range from 2GHz to 14GHz.

The mixer has a linearity of 24.4dBm IIP3 at 9GHz.

It is aimed at microwave transmitter and receiver designs with its integrated LO buffer that needs only a 0dBm drive level, effectively eliminating an external high power LO amplifier circuit.

The device also has an integrated on-chip, switchable frequency doubler for LO signal, providing an option to use lower cost, commonly available low frequency synthesizers.

The LTC5549 employs wideband integrated balun transformer optimized to extend RF frequency bandwidth from 2GHz to 14GHz while enabling single-ended operation. Its IF port also has wide bandwidth up to 6GHz.

All three ports are 50Ω matched. The mixer offers high port-to-port isolation, minimizing undesireable LO leakage, and easing external filtering requirements.

​The LTC5549’s performance enhances a wide range of microwave applications including microwave backhaul, high unlicensed band LTE-Advanced base stations, satellite broadband radios, radar systems, X-band and Ku band transceivers, test equipment and satellite modems.

The LTC5549 offers improved ESD protection with its 2,000V ESD human body model (HBM) rating on all pins. The device is available in a tiny 12-lead, 3mm x 2mm plastic QFN package. With its minimal external component design, the LTC5549 results in a compact solution footprint. The device is rated for operation from –40°C to 105°C case temperature to support extended environmental operating temperature.

The mixer is optimized for single 3.3V supply operation, drawing a nominal supply current of 115mA.

Additionally, the LTC5549 has an enable pin to disable the IC. When deactivated, the device draws only 100μA maximum standby current. The enable pin can be driven directly to turn the device on and off rapidly in less than 0.2μs, supporting time-division duplex (TDD) or burst mode type radios.

The LTC5549 is priced starting at $10.07 each in 1,000-piece quantities. Samples and production quantities are available immediately.

david manners

Infineon overtakes ST

Top 20 Semiconductor sales

Top 20 Semiconductor sales

Infineon has overtaken ST to become Europe’s largest chip company – Infineon’s Q2 sales were $1.762 billion while ST’s were $1.754 billion, according to IC Insights.

Samsung continues to close the gap on Intel with revenues of $10.3 billion in the quarter compared with Intel’s $11.96.

Top Ten Vendors Q2 2015

$bn

Intel 11.946
Samsung 10.3
TSMC 6.6
Hynix 4.2
Qualcomm 3.9
Micron 3.8
TI 3.0
Toshiba 2.8
Broadcom 2.1
Infineon 1.762

The company writes:

IC Insights includes foundries in the top 20 semiconductor supplier ranking since it has always viewed the ranking as a top supplier list, not a marketshare ranking, and realizes that in some cases the semiconductor sales are double counted.  With many of our clients being vendors to the semiconductor industry (supplying equipment, chemicals, gases, etc.), excluding large IC manufacturers like the foundries would leave significant “holes” in the list of top semiconductor suppliers.  As shown in the listing, the foundries and fabless companies are clearly identified.  In the April Update to The McClean Report, marketshare rankings of IC suppliers by product type were presented and foundries were excluded from these listings.

See more IC Insights stories on Electronics Weekly »

 

david manners

Infineon overtakes ST

Top 20 Semiconductor sales

Top 20 Semiconductor sales

Infineon has overtaken ST to become Europe’s largest chip company – Infineon’s Q2 sales were $1.762 billion while ST’s were $1.754 billion, according to IC Insights.

Samsung continues to close the gap on Intel with revenues of $10.3 billion in the quarter compared with Intel’s $11.96.

Top Ten Vendors Q2 2015

$bn

Intel 11.946
Samsung 10.3
TSMC 6.6
Hynix 4.2
Qualcomm 3.9
Micron 3.8
TI 3.0
Toshiba 2.8
Broadcom 2.1
Infineon 1.762

The company writes:

IC Insights includes foundries in the top 20 semiconductor supplier ranking since it has always viewed the ranking as a top supplier list, not a marketshare ranking, and realizes that in some cases the semiconductor sales are double counted.  With many of our clients being vendors to the semiconductor industry (supplying equipment, chemicals, gases, etc.), excluding large IC manufacturers like the foundries would leave significant “holes” in the list of top semiconductor suppliers.  As shown in the listing, the foundries and fabless companies are clearly identified.  In the April Update to The McClean Report, marketshare rankings of IC suppliers by product type were presented and foundries were excluded from these listings.

See more IC Insights stories on Electronics Weekly »

 

david manners

Microsemi makes tiny implantable radio

Microsemi ZL70323 RF block diagram

Microsemi ZL70323 RF block diagram

Microsemi has made a radio for implantable medical devices such as pacemakers, cardiac defibrillators and neurostimulators measuring 5.5×4.5×1.5mm.

RF technology is increasingly being used in a wide variety of medical implantable applications including cardiac care, physiological monitoring, pain management and obesity treatments.

The ZL70323 implantable module implements all RF-related functions needed to deploy the implant node in a medical implantable communications service (MICS) RF telemetry system, says Microsemi.

The integrated antenna tuning circuit allows the module to be used with a wide range of implantable antennas (nominal antenna impedance is 100+j150 ohms). The module provides the following major blocks:

  • ZL70103-based MICS-band RF transceiver with integrated matching network, surface acoustic wave (SAW) filter for suppression of unwanted blockers, and antenna tuning
  • 2.45 gigahertz (GHz) wake-up receiver matching network
  • Integrated 24 megahertz (MHz) reference frequency crystal
  • Decoupling capacitors and series termination resistors.

The device operates in the 402MHz–405MHz MICS band.

Multiple low power wake-up options are supported including using an ULP 2.45GHz industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) band wake-up receive option.

The ZL70103 consumes less than 6mA when transmitting or receiving and consmes only 290nA when in a periodic sleep/sniff mode (one-second sniff interval).

david manners

Microsemi makes tiny implantable radio

Microsemi ZL70323 RF block diagram

Microsemi ZL70323 RF block diagram

Microsemi has made a radio for implantable medical devices such as pacemakers, cardiac defibrillators and neurostimulators measuring 5.5×4.5×1.5mm.

RF technology is increasingly being used in a wide variety of medical implantable applications including cardiac care, physiological monitoring, pain management and obesity treatments.

The ZL70323 implantable module implements all RF-related functions needed to deploy the implant node in a medical implantable communications service (MICS) RF telemetry system, says Microsemi.

The integrated antenna tuning circuit allows the module to be used with a wide range of implantable antennas (nominal antenna impedance is 100+j150 ohms). The module provides the following major blocks:

  • ZL70103-based MICS-band RF transceiver with integrated matching network, surface acoustic wave (SAW) filter for suppression of unwanted blockers, and antenna tuning
  • 2.45 gigahertz (GHz) wake-up receiver matching network
  • Integrated 24 megahertz (MHz) reference frequency crystal
  • Decoupling capacitors and series termination resistors.

The device operates in the 402MHz–405MHz MICS band.

Multiple low power wake-up options are supported including using an ULP 2.45GHz industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) band wake-up receive option.

The ZL70103 consumes less than 6mA when transmitting or receiving and consmes only 290nA when in a periodic sleep/sniff mode (one-second sniff interval).

david manners

Murata launches MEMS acceleration sensor

MEMS angular acceleration sensor

MEMS angular acceleration sensor

Murata has launched a surface mount MEMS angular acceleration sensor, combining its technology for designing inertial sensors, such as acceleration and gyro sensors with its MEMS process technology.

Murata claims it is the world’s smallest SMD-type angular acceleration sensor measuring 5.2×2.5mm typ. x 0.8mm max.

It incorporates a detection frequency band of more than 1kHz and an angular acceleration equivalent noise effective value of less than 1rad/s²ms.

The device can be used for the detection of angular acceleration and the detection of rotational vibration.

The unit has been patent registered in Japan and overseas and has more than than 10 patents pending.

david manners

Murata launches MEMS acceleration sensor

MEMS angular acceleration sensor

MEMS angular acceleration sensor

Murata has launched a surface mount MEMS angular acceleration sensor, combining its technology for designing inertial sensors, such as acceleration and gyro sensors with its MEMS process technology.

Murata claims it is the world’s smallest SMD-type angular acceleration sensor measuring 5.2×2.5mm typ. x 0.8mm max.

It incorporates a detection frequency band of more than 1kHz and an angular acceleration equivalent noise effective value of less than 1rad/s²ms.

The device can be used for the detection of angular acceleration and the detection of rotational vibration.

The unit has been patent registered in Japan and overseas and has more than than 10 patents pending.

david manners

ALPS launches force sensor

ALPS launches force sensor

ALPS launches force sensor

ALPS has developed the “HSFPAR Series” force sensor, for sensing force in input devices and posture control in industrial equipment and robots, using MEMS technology to achieve the industry’s smallest size. Mass production is already under way.

Demand for high-precision pen-shaped input devices (stylus pens) has been growing with the rising popularity of digital drawing and painting. Stylus pens contain force sensors that are used to trace the trajectory of the pen tip, as well as to reproduce different thicknesses in artwork corresponding to the pressure applied. To enable smoother tone transitions, however, styli require sensors with high resolution, leading to pen shafts that are too thick, says ALPS.

The internet of things (IoT) and robotics markets have also driven up demand for compact, sensitive force sensors for applications like load detection on touch or contact, and load balance and grip strength control is expected to rise.

Force sensors today are generally either semiconductor or metallic strain gauge types, and both have their issues, the first being too big and the other sacrificing sensitivity for scale.

The HSFPAR series measure 2.00×1.60×0.66mm and can detect stress as low as 0.01N, enabling sensing of, for example, minor variations in pen pressure and load shift in robots.

It is also available as a unit type with a FPC (flexible printed circuit) included for easy integration into end products.

david manners

ALPS launches force sensor

ALPS launches force sensor

ALPS launches force sensor

ALPS has developed the “HSFPAR Series” force sensor, for sensing force in input devices and posture control in industrial equipment and robots, using MEMS technology to achieve the industry’s smallest size. Mass production is already under way.

Demand for high-precision pen-shaped input devices (stylus pens) has been growing with the rising popularity of digital drawing and painting. Stylus pens contain force sensors that are used to trace the trajectory of the pen tip, as well as to reproduce different thicknesses in artwork corresponding to the pressure applied. To enable smoother tone transitions, however, styli require sensors with high resolution, leading to pen shafts that are too thick, says ALPS.

The internet of things (IoT) and robotics markets have also driven up demand for compact, sensitive force sensors for applications like load detection on touch or contact, and load balance and grip strength control is expected to rise.

Force sensors today are generally either semiconductor or metallic strain gauge types, and both have their issues, the first being too big and the other sacrificing sensitivity for scale.

The HSFPAR series measure 2.00×1.60×0.66mm and can detect stress as low as 0.01N, enabling sensing of, for example, minor variations in pen pressure and load shift in robots.

It is also available as a unit type with a FPC (flexible printed circuit) included for easy integration into end products.

david manners

Qualcomm buys Ikanos

Qualcomm sales officeQualcomm is to buy Ikanos for $47 million to expand its broadband and modem portfolio for fixed line consumer business.

It will help provide, says Qualcomm: ‘a central hub for Internet of Everything (IoE) enabled devices, services and 3G/LTE small cells.’

“Qualcomm Atheros has always viewed the home gateway as the enabler for consumers to not only access the Internet for browsing and downloading content and video streaming, but also as the hub of the Internet in the home for a variety of reliable and high quality services,” says Qualcomm’s Rahul Patel, “the combination of Qualcomm Atheros’ broad home gateway IP portfolio, including Wi-Fi, powerline, small cell, and Ethernet switch technologies, and Ikanos’ advanced wired modem technology, is designed to create a complete solution for a wide range of home gateway products to better serve the carrier segment.”

What Ikanos brings to Qualcomm is: A/VDSL2 and G.fast modem technology and chipsets for consumer premises equipment (CPE) and central office (CO) infrastructure; multi-mode gateway processor and accelerator technology for fibre, LTE, Ethernet and hybrid-copper applications; Ikanos’ inSIGHT software for remote diagnosis, management and optimisation of the broadband connection and quality-of-service, and VoIP integrated access devices and bridges.

More Qualcomm stories on Electronics Weekly raquo

david manners