ICs & Semiconductors

Believed to be the first clock buffers and multiplexers on the market to meet stringent PCIe Gen6 specifications, the RC190xx clock buffers and RC192xx multiplexers have been released by Renesas. 

The release comprises 11 clock buffers and four multiplexers. The devices, which also support and provide extra margin for PCIe Gen5 implementations, complement Renesas’ low-jitter 9SQ440, 9FGV1002 and 9FGV1006 clock generators for PCIe Gen6 timing for data centre / cloud computing, networking and high-speed industrial applications.

The PCIe Gen6 standard supports extremely high data rates of 64Gtransfers per second while requiring very low clock jitter performance of less than 100fs RMS. The RC190xx clock buffers and RC192xx multiplexers have PCIe Gen6 additive jitter specs of only 4fs RMS, making them virtually noiseless, says Renesas. The company claims this means they future-proof designs for the next generation of industry standards.

“PCIe Gen6 timing will be at the heart of new equipment in data centers, high-speed networking and other applications,” said Zaher Baidas, vice president of the Timing Products division at Renesas. 

“It will be interesting to see the innovative implementations that result from this new capability, especially when considering how solutions for the emerging Chiplet market are starting to evolve, with the need for increasing speed and bandwidth as an underlying constant,” comments Rich Wawrzyniak, principal analyst for Semico Research.

The PCIe Gen6 clock buffers and multiplexers offer 1.4ns in-out delay, 35ps out-out skew and -80dB PSRR (power supply rejection ratio) at 100kHz in addition to low 4fs PCIe Gen6 additive jitter. 

Selectable SMBus addresses facilitate the use of multiple devices while SMBus write-protect feature enhances system security. 

The devices represent 30 per cent space-saving compared to earlier devices, adds Renesas.

Other features are loss-of-signal (LOS) output supports system monitoring and redundancy, a four-wire side-band interface to support high speed serial output enable / disable and device daisy-chaining. In addition, power down tolerant (PDT) and flexible start-up sequencing (FSS) features ensure good behaviour under abnormal system conditions, the company claims.

The RC190xx buffers are offered in 4-, 8-, 13-, 16-, 20- and 24-output configurations. The RC192xx multiplexers include 2-, 4-, 8- and 16-output versions. They are offered in packages as small as 3.0 x 3.0mm. 

All of the new devices are available now, and Renesas also offers an evaluation board schematic. 

http://www.renesas.com

Designers can reduce the complexity of 5G radio and reduce the number of components required, using a millimeter wave (mmW) 5G front-end chipset by Analog Devices. 

It comprises two single channel (1T1R) up / down converters (UDCs) and two dual polarisation 16-channel beamformer devices on a CMOS process. The power efficiency and linear output power provided by the beamformers enable size, weight, power, and cost reduction in mmW phased array designs compared to competing solutions, claims Analog Devices. The full-band UDCs with high drive level eliminate the need for frequency band variants and absorb driver stages for bill of materials savings. 

The mmW 5G front-end chipset includes four devices from Analog Devices, the ADMV4828, the ADMV4928, the ADMV1128 and ADMV1139. 

The ADMV4828 is a16-channel beamformer covering the 24 to 29.5GHz band in a single IC with more than 12.5dBm output power at three per cent error vector measurement (EVM) with a 400MHz 64QAM 5G NR (new radio) waveform while consuming only 310mW per channel.

The ADMV4928 is a 16-channel beamformer covering the 37 to 43.5GHz band in a single IC with above 11.5dBm output power at three per cent EVM with a 400MHz 64QAM 5G NR waveform while consuming only 340mW per channel.

The ADMV1128 is the company’s 24GHz to 29.5GHz wideband UDC with optional on-chip RF switch and hybrid, x2 /x4 local oscillator (LO) multiplier modes and baseband IQ support.

The fourth element is the ADMV1139, a 37 to 50GHz wideband UDC suitable for the upcoming 47GHz, as well as the 37 to 43.5GHz 5G NR bands. The single IC has optional on-chip RF switch and hybrid, with baseband IQ support.

The chipset enables seamless operation of phased array calibration functions online in the field in addition to factory non-volatile memory (NVM) through patented IP. This allows OEMs to move beyond the constraints of legacy NVM-only designs limited to one-time factory calibration of the beamformer, which does not address non-idealities external to the ICs and results in sub-optimal calibration results.

Analog Devices adds that mmW 5G deployment highlights the need for operators to expand their network footprint with more energy efficient, lightweight, and reliable radios. This requires highly linear, compact, and power efficient wideband products that allow design reuse over multiple bands without compromising on quality and performance. Analog Devices says that this mmW 5G front-end chipset allows OEMs to depart from the narrowband paradigm where competing solutions have traded-off design execution difficulty and RF performance for bandwidth, while also outsourcing critical pieces of IP such as packaging, test, and thermal modelling. 

The company also offers in-house quality management and package development, enabling engineers to create reliable, fully optimised, and customisable 5G radios quickly. 

http://www.analog.com