Compact GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuit I/Q down-converter

Housed in a compact leadless RoHS compliant SMT package, the Analog Devices / Hittite HMC977LP4E GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) I/Q down-converter is now available from Mouser. The device provides a small signal conversion gain of 14dB with a noise figure of 2.7dB and 21dBc of image rejection. It uses an LNA followed by an image reject mixer which is driven by an active x2 multiplier. The image reject mixer eliminates the need for filter following the LNA, and removes thermal noise at the image frequency. The device'sI and Q mixer outputs are provided and an external 90° hybrid is needed to select the required sideband. The HMC997LP4E is a significantly smaller alternative to hybrid style image reject mixer down-converter assemblies, and is compatible with surface-mount manufacturing techniques.