E-band Active Diplexers Carry Integral PAs and LNAs

June 16, 2022

Filtronic’s active diplexers lend themselves to development of cost-effective E-band radios with improved RF performance.

David Maliniak

Related To: Microwaves & RF

This article is part of our IMS2022 coverage.

When IMS2022 attendees visit Filtronic in its Booth 2068, they can get a look at the company’s new Hades range of active diplexers, designed to enable original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to manufacture cost-effective E-band radios with significantly increased RF performance. Such radios are fit for use in military or commercial telecommunications applications, including airborne and High Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS).

The active E-band mmWave diplexers operate over the 71-to-76-GHz and 81-to-86-GHz bands and offer a range of configurable options integrating high-power amplifiers (PAs) and low-noise amplifiers (LNAs), thus reducing size and weight compared with discrete components. Their low overall SWaP (size, weight, and power) makes them ideal for airborne and HAPS applications.

Active diplexers can be teamed with a wide range of commercially-available-off-the-shelf (COTS) surface mount-compatible packaged upconverters and downconverters. This provides enhanced performance compared with using surface-mount products, it’s claimed, and allows versatility in the deployment of configurable E-band links with different power levels.

The integral PAs have saturated transmitter (Tx) power output levels up to more than +30 dBm and incorporate a Tx RF power detector to facilitate power calibration and automatic level control (ALC). The LNAs have a receiver (Rx) noise figure of less than 4 dB. With a typical output IP3 at +20 dBm of +31dBm, the high linearity of the units is capable of supporting modulation formats up to 1024QAM to facilitate very high data rates.

Where specified, the modules can be supplied with full calibration of transmitter power/frequency and receiver gain characteristics, stored on an integrated I2C EEPROM. An integrated temperature sensor also provides users with accurate amplifier temperature data.

A wide range of configuration options are available for the Hades diplexers, which can be specified to integrate either GaAs or InP amplifiers as required, in either or both of the Tx and Rx chains. There is also the option to combine two GaAs PAs to give a higher linear Tx power for long range terrestrial and non-terrestrial E-band communications links. Furthermore, the WR12 port locations and directions can be customized upon request.

For more information, visit the company website.

For more IMS2022 coverage, visit our digital magazine.

About the Author

David Maliniak | Executive Editor, Microwaves & RF

I am Executive Editor of Microwaves & RF, an all-digital publication that broadly covers all aspects of wireless communications. More particularly, we're keeping a close eye on technologies in the consumer-oriented 5G, 6G, IoT, M2M, and V2X markets, in which much of the wireless market's growth will occur in this decade and beyond. I work with a great team of editors to provide engineers, developers, and technical managers with interesting and useful articles and videos on a regular basis. Check out our free newsletters to see the latest content.

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About me:

In his long career in the B2B electronics-industry media, David Maliniak has held editorial roles as both generalist and specialist. As Components Editor and, later, as Editor in Chief of EE Product News, David gained breadth of experience in covering the industry at large. In serving as EDA/Test and Measurement Technology Editor at Electronic Design, he developed deep insight into those complex areas of technology. Most recently, David worked in technical marketing communications at Teledyne LeCroy, leaving to rejoin the EOEM B2B publishing world in January 2020. David earned a B.A. in journalism at New York University.