Maxim Integrated Products' MAX2039 is a fully integrated, silicon germanium (SiGe) passive mixer for 2.5G/3G wireless-infrastructure applications. The MAX2039 delivers an unparalleled combination of linearity, noise performance and component integration. This single IC provides 34.5 dBm of IIP3, 24.4 dBm of IP1dB, 7.3 dB of noise figure, and a conversion loss of only 7.1 dB. In addition, the mixer exhibits excellent second- and third-order spurious suppression.

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The MAX2039 is suitable for 1700 MHz to 2200 MHz WCDMA/UMTS, DCS/PCS/EDGE, cdma2000, and TDMA base-station applications where high linearity and low noise figure (NF) are critical for enhanced receiver and transmitter performance. This device offers an exceptionally wide 40 MHz to 350 MHz IF frequency range with a 1400 MHz to 2000 MHz low-side LO injection range. An LO frequency range of 1900 MHz to 2400 MHz is also supported by the MAX2041, which has been optimized for high-side LO injection.

As a complete SiGe up- and downconverter, the MAX2039 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 percent. The MAX2039's 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 45 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 gain-variation performance of ±0.5 dB over the -40°C to +85°C industrial temperature range. The IIP3 spread is at ±0.75 dB over temperature.

The MAX2039 comes in a compact 5 mm x 5 mm, 20-pin thin QFN. Lead-free packaging is also available. Prices start at $6.15 (1000-up, FOB USA).