European chipmaker STMicroelectronics has unveiled what it calls the semiconductor industry’s highest-frequency, widest range microwave integrated RF synthesizer.
The STuW81300 is implemented in ST’s BiCMOS silicon-germanium (SiGe) technology and is designed to reduce the costs of implementing RF microwave solutions in applications such as radio links, satellite communications, base stations and test and measurement equipment.
The RF synthesizer includes a fractional-N phase-locked-loop (PLL) core with low-noise wideband voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs), voltage regulators and has a frequency range from 1.925 GHz to 16GHz.
ST says the use of microwave frequency bands (beyond 6GHz) is gaining traction in applications where a new class or radio equipment with an improved cost profile is needed. Integrating gallium arsenide (GaAs) architectures into a single chip wideband SiGe device meets this need, the company says.
The IC is sampling priced at $11 in 1,000 unit orders with volume production salted to begin later in 2016.
