GXSC passive dual balanced broadband mixer GX5548/5549 replaces LTC5548/5549 for microwave radio design

Microwave radio system is a carrier for long-distance data transmission, radar detection, and satellite communication in the field of microwave communication. The RF front-end of the system needs to complete the frequency conversion processing of microwave signals. Guoxin Sichen‘s passive dual balanced broadband mixer GX5548/5549 can serve as an up converter or down converter. This device has a very wide RF operating frequency range of 2GHz to 14GHz. And it provides exceptionally high linearity (28.2dBm IIP3 at 5.8GHz and 22.8dBm IIP3 at 12GHz), thereby improving the dynamic range of transmitters and receivers.

The GX5548/5549 broadband mixer achieves efficient microwave transmitter and receiver design with an integrated LO buffer that requires only 0dBm of driving power (thus effectively eliminating the need for external high-power LO driver circuits). In addition, an on-chip, bypassing multiplier for LO signals is integrated, allowing the device to be used in cost-effective common low-frequency synthesizers in beneficial situations.

The GX5548/5549 utilizes a broadband integrated balanced unbalanced transformer optimized for expanding LO and RF frequency bandwidth, while achieving single ended operation. Moreover, its IF port can support a wide bandwidth of 0.5GHz to 6GHz. All three ports are 50 Ω matched and have excellent port to port isolation performance, minimizing unwanted LO leakage and reducing external filtering requirements.

Low LO driver simplifies the design:

The integrated LO amplifier of GX5548/5549 actually eliminates the+10dBm to+17dBm LO amplifier typically required to drive traditional microwave passive mixers. Therefore, its 0dBm LO drive enables the direct use of a PLL/synthesizer to drive the LO without the need for buffering.In addition to cost savings, low LO power naturally results in much lower LO leakage to the IF or RF port, thus requiring less external filtering to suppress any out of band radiation associated with such high-power sources. Another advantage is that there is no high-power radiation source installed on the PC board. This means significant cost savings as it reduces the requirement for RF suppression shielding, which is a cumbersome task for many designs with such high-power LO signals.

GX5548/5549 Main performance indicators:

RF working bandwidth: 2~15GHz

LO working bandwidth: 1-12GH

IF working bandwidth: DC~6GHz

Down mixing input P-1dB: 15dBm (typical value)

Upmixing input P-1dB: 13dBm (typical value)

Required LO power: 0dBm (typical value)