A new family of high-speed analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) from Linear Technology combines outstanding AC performance with extremely low power, making them suitable for a range of wireless and cable communications systems. The LTC2220 family includes ADCs ranging from 10 Msps up to 170 Msps at 12-bit and 10-bit resolution, as well as 14-bit converters up to 80 Msps.

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This ADC family complements the previously announced LTC1750 family of 5-V ADCs, which achieves unmatched AC performance. The LTC2220 family of 3.3-V converters features significantly lower power than competing devices without sacrificing AC performance. These low-power ADCs excel at undersampling, making them well suited for communications applications such as WCDMA cellular base-station transceivers, digital predistortion power amplifier linearization, and cable modem termination systems.

The LTC2224 is a 12-bit 135 Msps ADC and at 630 mW in a 7 mm x 7 mm QFN package, it has the lowest power at this speed. It achieves over 67 dB SNR up to 170 MHz input. Further, the system footprint is small because few external bypasses are needed. Ideal for low power base-station designs and optimized for undersampling, the LTC2224 features a 775 MHz bandwidth and achieves 77 dB SFDR up to 250 MHz input. Pin-compatible versions at sample rates of 105 Msps and 80 Msps feature even lower power. Pin-compatible 10-bit versions at each speed are also in full production.

The entire LTC2220 ADC family, which includes 24 devices, will be introduced by the fourth quarter. The ADC family features pin-compatibility, allowing easy migration from 10-bit to 12- or 14-bits, or to different sample rates. In addition to the LTC2224, the company is also announcing five additional high-performance, low-power ADCs: LTC2222, LTC2223, LTC2234, LTC2232 and LTC2233. All are now in production and are packaged in 7 mm x 7 mm QFN packages.