1999-03-02 , S/IC-2011/43
Product News From Philips Semiconductors

Fractional-N synthesizer family will migrate to Philips advanced QUBiC3 BiCMOS process technology

Philips Semiconductors, the world's largest supplier of radio frequency (RF) semiconductors, today reconfirmed its commitment to the fractional-N synthesizer IC market by disclosing its future roadmap that builds on the new 6-family of fractional-N synthesizers ( SA8026,  SA8016,  SA7026,  SA7016). The next generation 7-family will be manufactured in Philips Semiconductors' QUBiC3 BiCMOS process technology and will support applications up to 3.7 GHz. Now priced nominally above conventional synthesizers and with significant performance advantages, the 6-family, and later this year the 7-family, offer an attractive solution for wireless system designers.

"Philips Semiconductors was the first company to bring RF fractional-N synthesizers to market and is committed to improving product in order to meet the increasing demands of wireless equipment," said Per Rosdahl, product marketing manager, Advanced RF Business Line at Philips Semiconductors. "Among the benefits that fractional-N synthesizers provide over conventional frequency synthesizers are very low close-in phase noise, faster switching and higher comparison frequencies without decreased resolution. These are all the key performance features in any RF design and are even more critical in digital applications. By simultaneously delivering low phase noise and fast acquisition time, the 6-family meets the requirements for new services like High Speed Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD) and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) standard."

The primary application for fractional-N synthesizers is in wireless telecommunications equipment including cell phones, cordless handsets, pagers and cellular base stations. The digital cellular phone market in particular is a key market that can take advantage of the superior performance of fractional-N synthesizers over that of conventional synthesizers. According to Dataquest (November 1998) this market segment is expected to expand from 135 million units in 1998 to over 313 million units in 2002.

The newest additions to the Philips Semiconductors family of fractional-N synthesizers, the  SA8026,  SA8016,  SA7026 and  SA7016, take advantage of the QUBiC2 BiCMOS process technology and deliver the best performance available in the market. The  SA8026 is a 2.5 GHz dual (main and auxiliary) and its counter part, the  SA7026, a 1.3 GHz dual version with lower power consumption. The  SA8016 and  SA7016 are single versions, where the auxiliary synthesizer has been removed to optimize cost. They all feature industry leading phase noise levels, fast switching, V_CC levels from 2.7 to 5.5 volts and incorporate a continuously fully selectable, programmable divider that improves ease of use. The dual's auxiliary has a wide IF bandwidth of 20 to 550 MHz.

The recently introduced Philips Semiconductors 0.5 µm QUBiC3 BiCMOS process technology will further drive the integration of high frequency RF blocks toward single-chip solutions. QUBiC3 is a high-density four metal layer, double poly process, providing excellent linearity and noise with a F_t of 30 GHz. It is ideal for development of wireless function blocks such as synthesizers, PAs, LNAs, mixers, integrated VCOs and filters.

The QUBiC3 technology will be used to launch the next-generation 7-family of fractional-N synthesizers. The 7-family will be pin-compatible with the 6-family and also include the worlds first 3.7 GHz fractional-N synthesizer. The functionality will be identical to the 6-family, to make it easy for customers to switch over, but with even lower power consumption and smaller die sizes.

Samples of the 6-family of fractional-N synthesizers are available now from Philips Semiconductors together with evaluation boards.

Philips Semiconductors, a division of Royal Philips Electronics, headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, is the eighth largest semiconductor supplier in the world (according to Dataquest's preliminary 1998 ranking by sales). Philips Semiconductors' innovations in digital audio, video, and mobile technology position the company as a leader in the consumer, multimedia and wireless communications markets. Sales offices are located in all major markets around the world and are supported by systems labs.