Peregrine Semiconductor Announces 8 GHz SP4T RF Switch for Test-and-Measurement/ATE Applications

Highly-Linear Switch Has Frequency Range of 10 Hz to 8 GHz and Low Insertion Loss

San Diego, California, June 19, 2012 – Peregrine Semiconductor Corporation (Peregrine), a fabless provider of high-performance radio-frequency (RF) integrated circuits (ICs), today announced from booth # 2009 at the  International Microwave Symposium (IMS2012) in Montreal, the SP4T PE42540 RF switch. Designed on the latest UltraCMOS® process version, STeP5, the HaRP™ technology-enhanced PE42540 switch has a frequency range of 10 Hz to 8 GHz, with low insertion loss of 0.8 dB @ 3 GHz, 1.0 dB @ 6 GHz, and 1.2 dB @ 8 GHz. The result is a highly-linear switch that is well suited for applications requiring highly-linear RF performance and fast settling time, such as Test and Measurement (T&M), and Automated Test Equipment (ATE).

The absorptive PE42540 switch is comprised of four symmetric RF ports, with high isolation RFX to RFX of 45 dB @ 3 GHz, 39 dB @ 6 GHz, and 31 dB @ 8 GHz. On-chip CMOS decode logic facilitates a two-pin low voltage CMOS control interface and an optional external VSS feature. Additionally, the switch features high linearity of 58 dBm IIP3, with high ESD tolerance of 2 kV HBM on RFC, and 1 kV HBM on all other pins. It also has a maximum input-power-handling capability of 30 dBm @ 8 GHz into 50 Ω.

“The PE42540 switch complements our PE42551 and PE42552 switches with extended frequency and low insertion loss,” said Mark Schrepferman, director of marketing for Peregrine’s High-Performance Solutions business unit. “We believe this is the industry’s highest-performance SP4T switch, in terms of bandwidth, insertion loss, and linearity.”

Packaging, Pricing & Availability

The PE42540 switch is available in a 32-lead, 5 mm x 5 mm QFN package, for $4.87 each, in 10,000-unit quantities. Samples and volume-production quantities can be ordered in late June through Peregrine’s global sales representatives and worldwide distribution partners. For more information, visit www.psemi.com.

About Peregrine Semiconductor

Peregrine Semiconductor is a fabless provider of high-performance radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). Our solutions leverage our proprietary UltraCMOS® technology, which enables the design, manufacture, and integration of multiple RF, mixed-signal, and digital functions on a single chip. Our products deliver what we believe is an industry-leading combination of performance and monolithic integration, and target a broad range of applications in the aerospace and defense, broadband, industrial, mobile wireless device, test and measurement equipment, and wireless infrastructure markets. UltraCMOS technology combines the ability to achieve the high levels of performance of traditional specialty processes, with the fundamental benefits of standard CMOS, the most widely-used semiconductor process technology. UltraCMOS technology utilizes a synthetic sapphire substrate, a near-perfect electrical insulator, providing low parasitic capacitance, and enabling high signal isolation, and excellent broadband linearity. These attributes result in RF devices with excellent high- frequency performance and power-handling performance, reduced crosstalk between frequencies, and enhanced network efficiency. We have engineered design advancements, including our patented HaRP™ technology which significantly improves harmonic and linearity performance; and our patent-pending DuNE™ technology, a circuit design technique that we have used to develop our advanced Digitally Tunable Capacitor (DTC) products. We offer a broad portfolio of high-performance RFICs including switches, digital attenuators, mixers/upconverters, prescalers, frequency synthesizers, DTCs, and DC-to-DC converter products; and we are currently developing Power Amplifiers (PAs). Our products are sold worldwide through our direct sales and field applications engineering staff, and our network of independent sales representatives, and distribution partners. Additional information is available on the Company’s website at https://psemi.com.

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The Peregrine Semiconductor name, logo and UltraCMOS are registered trademarks, and DuNE and HaRP are trademarks of Peregrine Semiconductor Corporation in the U.S.A., and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Markets

Power Management

  • High Linearity RF Switches

    Industry-leading linearity and RF performance
    HaRP™ technology enhancement reduces gate lag and insertion loss drift
    Monolithic CMOS solution that integrates RF, analog and digital
    Best-in-class ESD and reliability
  • High Isolation RF Switches

    Industry-leading isolation and RF performance
    HaRP™ technology enhancement reduces gate lag and insertion loss drift
    Monolithic CMOS solution that integrates RF, analog and digital
    Best-in-class ESD and reliability
  • Low Insertion Loss RF Switches

    Industry-leading insertion loss and RF performance
    HaRP™ technology enhancement reduces gate lag and insertion loss drift
    Monolithic CMOS solution that integrates RF, analog and digital
    Best-in-class ESD and reliability
  • Antenna Tuning Switches

    Industry-leading RF power handling and ruggedness
    Best-in-class harmonic and linearity
    Small form factor with robust ESD and reliability
  • 75Ω Wired Broadband Switches

    Unmatched linearity performance for DOCSIS 3.1
    HaRP™ technology enhancement reduces gate lag and insertion loss drift
    Monolithic CMOS solution that integrates RF, analog and digital
    Best-in-class ESD ratings and reliability
  • Broadband RF Switches

    Wideband support with a frequency range from 0 Hz to 67 GHz
    Industry-leading insertion loss, isolation, linearity and settling time
    HaRP™ technology enhancement reduces gate lag and insertion loss drift
    Best-in-class ESD and reliability
  • High Power Switches

    Industry-leading power handling and RF performance
    HaRP™ technology enhancement reduces gate lag and insertion loss drift
    Monolithic CMOS solution that integrates RF, analog and digital
    Best-in-class ESD and reliability
  • Automotive Switches

    AEC-Q100 Grade 2-certified supporting temperatures up to +105°C
    HaRP™ technology enhancement reduces gate lag and insertion loss drift
    Monolithic CMOS solution that integrates RF, analog and digital
    Best-in-class ESD and reliability
  • Extended Temperature RF Switches

    Wide temperature range support from -55°C to +125°C
    HaRP™ technology enhancement reduces gate lag and insertion loss drift
    Monolithic CMOS solution that integrates RF, analog and digital
    Best-in-class ESD and reliability
  • 75Ω Wired Broadband RF Digital Step Attenuators

    High linearity, fast switching time with wide bandwidth
    Best-in-class attenuation error with fine attenuation steps
    Monolithic CMOS solution that integrates RF, analog and digital
    Excellent ESD protection and reliability
  • Glitchless RF Digital Step Attenuators

    High linearity, fast switching time with wide bandwidth
    Best-in-class attenuation error with fine attenuation steps
    Monolithic CMOS solution that integrates RF, analog and digital
    Excellent ESD protection and reliability
  • General-purpose RF Digital Step Attenuators

    High linearity, fast switching time with wide bandwidth
    Best-in-class attenuation error with fine attenuation steps
    Monolithic CMOS solution that integrates RF, analog and digital
    Excellent ESD protection and reliability
  • 2.4 GHz IoT FEMs

    Industry-leading monolithic Wi-Fi RF front-end solutions
    High linearity performance for Wi-Fi 6 and W-Fi 6E
    Compact form factors integrating high-performance RF, analog and digital
    Best-in-class ESD and reliability
  • Phase Shifters

    Ideal solutions for optimizing transmission phase angle
    Low root-mean-square (RMS) phase and amplitude error with fine phase resolution
    Digital control interface with parallel and serial programming options
    Best-in-class ESD and reliability
  • Monolithic Phase & Amplitude Controllers (MPACs)

    Reliable phase and amplitude control for next-generation communications
    Monolithic CMOS solution that integrates RF, analog and digital
    Integrated solution for Doherty power amplifier optimization (MPAC–Doherty)
  • Digital Tunable Capacitors (DTCs)

    Small form factor with high Q
    Monolithically integrated impedance tuning solution
    Wide-band tuning coverage, minimum mismatch losses, high linearity and fast switching speed
    Best-in-class ESD and reliability
  • Power Limiters

    Highly integrated solutions, smaller and more reliable than PIN-diode solutions
    Adjustable threshold control for maximum design flexibility
    High power handling and linearity required for wide-dynamic-range designs
    Fast response and recovery times for instantaneous protection and rapid return
  • Prescalers

    Exceptional performance with high-frequency support up to 13.5 GHz
    Low phase noise performance and low power consumption solutions
    Bare-die solutions for a wide variety of compact high-performance applications
    Best-in-class ESD and reliability
  • Mixers

    Broadband quad MOSFET array cores for high performance
    Industry-leading linearity, isolation and low conversion loss
    Available in MSOP, DFN and QFN packages
    Best-in-class ESD and reliability
  • Switch LNA

    Integrates dual-channel LNA with bypass function & high-power switch
    20W average RF input power
    Low noise figure of 0.9 dB
    +105°C operating temperature

Power Management

RF Mixers & Limiters

Front End Modules

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