Peregrine Semiconductor Announces Its Highest-Linearity Switches for 4G LTE Applications

SP10T switch meets stringent second-harmonic requirement for Band XIII

San Diego, California, June 20, 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, its highest-linearity switches for 4G LTE applications. The HaRP™ technology-enhanced SP10T PE426161 switch meets the stringent second-harmonic (2f0) requirement of -80 dBm for Band XIII—making it the highest-linearity switch in the Peregrine portfolio. The SP12T PE426171 switch features 12 fully-symmetrical transmit ports that give designers the flexibility to freely configure any combination of ports for any mode, and any band, through the bi-directional, two-wire serial-bus control interface. Both of the new switches are MIPI compliant, and have a wide supply range of 2.3 to 4.8V for operation from VBAT, as well as high ESD tolerance of 4 kV Human Body Model at the ANT port, and 2 kV all pins. Both switches also include an on-chip SAW filter over-voltage protection.

In addition to eight symmetric TX ports, the PE426161 switch features two Super TX (STX) ports that each  support low insertion loss of 0.20 dB at 700 MHz, and 0.55 dB at 2690 MHz. The eight symmetric TX ports feature low insertion loss of 0.35 dB at 900 MHz, 0.45 dB at 1900 MHz, and 0.60 dB at 2690 MHz. All 10 TX ports give designers the flexibility to freely configure any combination of ports for any mode and any band through the bi-directional two-wire serial- bus control interface.

The high-isolation PE426171 switch supports four LTE bands, six UMTS bands and four GSM bands, with co- banding applied. This switch has low insertion loss of 0.35 dB at 900 MHz, 0.45 dB at 1900 MHz, and 0.60 dB at 2690 MHz; and high isolation of 38 dB at 900 and 1900 MHz, on all paths.

“These low-loss, flip-chip switches address industry demands for linearity,” said Dylan Kelly, vice president of Peregrine Semiconductor’s Mobile Wireless Solutions business unit. “The PE426161 switch meets the critical Band XIII 2fo requirement which is necessary for LTE network co-existence with GPS.”

Packaging, Pricing & Availability

The PE426161/71 switches are available in a flip-chip package. Samples and volume-production quantities can be ordered today, through Peregrine’s global direct sales management. 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://www.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.