Peregrine Semiconductor SPDT Switch Improves Test and Measurement Equipment Performance

Peregrine Semiconductor Corp., a provider of high-performance RF CMOS and mixed-signal communications ICs, recently announced the launch of its latest PE42556 SPDT (single pole double throw) RF switch.

 

The PE42556 has been devised using Peregrine’s UltraCMOS silicon-on-sapphire process technology and brings forth superior broadband RF performance from 9 kHz up to 13.5 GHz without gate or phase lag and insertion loss drift, the company said. The new switch also assures users of a fast switch-settling time.

 

The improved switch also boasts of one of the highest levels of linearity in the industry, Peregrine said. And this makes it well suited for use in test and measurement applications like Automated Test Equipment and general-purpose test and measurement, RF/IF transceiver signal switching, filter bank switching and discrete DSA stages, among others.

 

“Today’s test and measurement vendors face a classic chicken and egg problem: making more efficient ATE requires better RF performance, yet the RF integrated circuits in development push the limits of today’s test equipment,” Mark Schrepferman, product marketing director for commercial and industrial products, said. “We’ve worked very closely with our customers to understand the limitations of today’s equipment, and to solve this challenge with the development of broadband switches that deliver the linearity, ultra-fast settling time, repeatability and overall performance required to reliably test next-generation RFICs.”

 

The latest PE42556 is an absorptive switch that completes the unused port to 50 Ohms and also provides an extraordinary isolation of 26 dB at 13.5 GHz and IIP3 of +56 dBm (News - Alert). The ESD tolerance parameter is 4.0 kV HBM on all ports.

 

Apart from the aforementioned features the product also includes other cutting-edge qualities like an integrated CMOS control logic, single-pin driven, low-voltage CMOS control input with a user-defined logic table, and a logic-select pin that allows polarity to be reversed for end-to-end switching applications. This device works well with Peregrine’s PE42552 SPDT specified from 9 kHz to 7.5 GHz.

 

Peregrine is currently providing the PE42556 in a tiny flip chip package with a 400um bump pitch. The device is shipping to top billers now, and retails at $15 for individual unit volumes of 5,000.