Peregrine Semiconductor Boosts Performance of Test and Measurement Equipment with New 13.5 GHz SPDT Switch

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Peregrine Semiconductor Corporation, a leading supplier of high-performance RF CMOS and mixed-signal communications ICs, today announced the new PE42556 SPDT (single pole double throw) RF switch. The PE42556, designed on Peregrine’s UltraCMOS™ silicon-on-sapphire process technology, features excellent broadband RF performance from 9 kHz up to 13.5 GHz without gate or phase lag and insertion loss drift, and ensures fast switch-settling time. The HaRP™-enhanced switch has best-in-class linearity, making it ideal for use in test and measurement applications including Automated Test Equipment (ATE) and general purpose test & measurement, RF/IF transceiver signal switching, filter bank switching and discrete DSA stages.

“Today’s test and measurement vendors face a classic chicken and egg problem: making more efficient ATE requires better RF performance, yet the RF integrated circuits (ICs) in development push the limits of today’s test equipment”

“Today’s test and measurement vendors face a classic chicken and egg problem: making more efficient ATE requires better RF performance, yet the RF integrated circuits (ICs) in development push the limits of today’s test equipment,” said Mark Schrepferman, product marketing director for commercial and industrial products. “We’ve worked very closely with our customers to understand the limitations of today’s equipment, and to solve this challenge with the development of broadband switches that deliver the linearity, ultra-fast settling time, repeatability and overall performance required to reliably test next-generation RFICs,” he added.

The new PE42556, an absorptive switch, terminates the unused port to 50 Ohms and delivers an exceptional isolation of 26 dB at 13.5 GHz and IIP3 of +56 dBm. ESD tolerance is a market-leading 4.0 kV HBM on all ports. Additional features include integrated CMOS control logic, driven by a single-pin, low-voltage CMOS control input with a user-defined logic table, as well as a logic-select pin that allows polarity to be inverted for back-to-back switching applications. This device complements Peregrine’s PE42552 SPDT specified from 9 kHz to 7.5 GHz.

The PE42556 is offered in a tiny flip chip package with a 400um bump pitch. The device is shipping to lead customers now, and is priced at $15.00 each in 5k unit volumes.

About Environmentally-friendly UltraCMOS™ Technology

UltraCMOS mixed-signal process technology is a patented advancement of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology on a sapphire substrate providing high yields, competitive costs and a “green” alternative to GaAs-based technologies. UltraCMOS delivers significant performance advantages over competing processes such as GaAs, SiGe BiCMOS and bulk silicon CMOS in applications where RF performance, low power and high levels of integration are paramount. These measureable power and size savings offer advantages for both manufacturers and consumers, including longer battery life, smaller batteries, lower power consumption and bills, less electronic waste…and a greener Earth. Further, the company’s revolutionary HaRP™ and DuNE™ technologies further exploit the fundamental benefits of silicon-on-sapphire, enabling dramatic improvements in harmonic results, linearity, power handling and overall RF performance which today remain unmatched by any other RF process technology.

About Peregrine Semiconductor

Peregrine Semiconductor Corporation designs, manufactures and markets high-performance communications RF ICs for the wireless infrastructure and mobile wireless, broadband CATV/DTV, communications infrastructure and high-rel markets. Manufactured on the Company’s proprietary UltraCMOS mixed-signal process technology, Peregrine products are uniquely poised to meet the needs of a global RF design community in high-growth applications such as WCDMA, EDGE and GSM digital cellular and mobile TV; broadband communications such as DTV/PCTV/DVR; and in high-reliability applications such as telecom infrastructure, industrial, automotive, military and satellite systems. Peregrine UltraCMOS devices are manufactured under licensed foundry partnerships with world-class CMOS semiconductor manufacturers located in Japan, Taiwan, Korea and Australia. The Company, headquartered in San Diego, California, maintains global sales support operations and a worldwide technical distribution network. Additional information is available on the web at www.psemi.com.

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