Maxim Integrated Products’ has introduced the MAX2031, a fully integrated 815 MHz to 1000 MHz silicon germanium (SiGe) passive mixer. This single IC provides 36 dBm of IIP3, 27 dBm of IP1dB, 7 dB of noise figure (NF), and a conversion loss of only 7 dB. In addition, the MAX2031 exhibits excellent second- and third-order spurious suppression.

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Designed specifically for 2.5G/3G wireless-infrastructure applications, the MAX2031 delivers an unparalleled combination of linearity, noise performance and component integration. The mixer is aimed at 815 MHz to 1000 MHz WCDMA, GSM850/GSM900 EDGE, cdma2000, and iDEN base station applications where high linearity and low NF are critical for enhanced receiver and transmitter performance. The device offers an exceptionally wide DC to 250 MHz IF frequency range with a 960 MHz to 1180 MHz high-side LO injection range. LO frequencies of 325 MHz to 850 MHz are also supported by the MAX2029, which has been optimized for low-side LO injection architectures.

As a complete SiGe up- and downconverter, the MAX2031 integrates a state-of-the-art double-balanced mixer core with an LO amplifier, two baluns, an LO switch, plus dozens of discrete components. This integration reduces the total board space used by the mixer by a factor of 2.5x, and reduces the discrete part count by 33%. The MAX2031's outstanding 2RF-2LO performance can also ease the filtering requirements of close-in harmonics, thus leading to simpler and more cost-effective filter designs.

Frequency hopping is supported with the integrated SPDT LO switch with switching speeds of <50 ns and 49 dB of LO1-to-LO2 isolation. The on-board 0 dBm drive, LO buffer provides ±3 dB drive-variance control, yielding stable gain, NF, and IIP3 performance over temperature, supply, and input power. The device has excellent +0.2/-0.3 dB gain-variation over the –40°C to +85°C industrial temperature range. IIP3 spread is similarly impressive at ±0.3 dB over temperature.

The MAX2031 comes in a compact 5 mm x 5 mm, 20-pin thin QFN, which is pin-compatible with the MAX2039/MAX2041 series of 1700 MHz to 2200 MHz mixers. This entire family of up- and downconverters is suitable for applications where a common PC-board layout is used for both wireless-infrastructure frequency bands. Lead-free packaging is available. Prices start at $6.15 (1000-up, FOB USA).