5 December 2011

Hittite launches 3mm2 MMIC band-pass filter tunable from 19 to 38GHz

Hittite Microwave Corp of Chelmsford, MA, USA (which designs and supplies analog, digital and mixed-signal RF, microwave and millimeter-wave ICs, modules and subsystems as well as instrumentation) has launched the HMC899 tunable MMIC band-pass filter (BPF), which suits hybrid and microwave integrated circuit (MIC) applications in wideband test & measurement equipment, communication systems and electronic warfare (EW) subsystems to 38GHz. The analog voltage-tuned, solid state MMIC filter is insensitive to environmental conditions, and represents a space-saving alternative to mechanically tuned and MEMS-based filter solutions.

The HMC899 features a user-selectable pass band frequency range of 19-38GHz. The 3dB filter bandwidth is about 18%, while the 20dB bandwidth is about 35%. The pass-band center frequency is controlled by an analog tune voltage between 0 and 14V with a tuning speed of 200ns. The HMC899 exhibits what is claimed to be excellent microphonic immunity due to the monolithic design, and provides a dynamically adjustable filtering solution in advanced communications applications.

Compared to physically large switched filter banks and cavity tuned filters the 3mm2 HMC899 can reduce the required filtering circuit area by up to 90%. Return losses are typically 10dB, while residual phase noise is as low as -157dBc/Hz at 1MHz offset.

For applications that a require a surface-mount-compatible solution, the filter is available in an RoHS-compliant 4mm x 4mm QFN SMT package as the HMC899LP4E. Samples and evaluation PC boards for all SMT-packaged products are available from stock.

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