SE4150L SiGe Semiconductor, Inc. has released the SE4150L GPS radio receiver featuring dual-antenna input capability for developing GPS products.
Housed in a low profile 4x4millimeter package, the SE4150L RF integrated circuit (RFIC) features a multi-bit output, which improves sensitivity and interference resistance, according to the company. The receiver has a reported system noise figure of 1.0 dB and input third-order intercept performance (IIP3) of better than 0 dBm.
SiGe Semiconductor, Inc. has released the SE4150L GPS radio receiver featuring dual-antenna input capability for developing GPS products.
Housed in a low profile 4x4millimeter package, the SE4150L RF integrated circuit (RFIC) features a multi-bit output, which improves sensitivity and interference resistance, according to the company. The receiver has a reported system noise figure of 1.0 dB and input third-order intercept performance (IIP3) of better than 0 dBm.
The SE4150L operates over a supply range of 2.7 to 3.6 volts and features a low standby current of <10 milliamps. The device’s digital I/Os and supplies, however, have all been designed to operate from 1.6 to 3.6 V to interface with smaller geometry baseband ICs and SoCs.
The SE4150L GPS receiver simplifies dual-antenna system design — for either internal or external antenna architectures — because it integrates antenna sensing, switching, and a high-performance low noise amplifier (LNA) on the chip, says Stefan Fulga, SiGe’s director of strategic marketing.
With the SE4150L, designers can save PC board space and avoid use of expensive switched coaxial socket or numerous discrete components to sense when an external antenna was connected, according to SiGe. The SE4150L automatically responds to the connection of an external antenna and interfaces directly to the GPS baseband processor to provide a complete GPS radio receiver system.
SiGe Semiconductor is primarily targeting the personal navigation device (PND) market with the new GPS RFIC, but it will support other applications that require low-power consumption combined with internal and external antenna capabilities.
SiGe engineers worked closely with counterparts at SiRF Technology to ensure that the SE4150L would interface with the integrated GPS basebands of the SiRFatlas and SiRFprima systems on a chip.
The SE4150L is sampling now to lead customers and will be widely available beginning in July 2008. The device is supplied in a 4×4-millimeter QFN package, and is priced at less than US $1.50 in 10,000 quantities. The companion SE4150L-EK1 evaluation board and user guide can provide on-site applications assistance to customers for the design and integration of a complete GPS system.
