HMC208AMS8

RF Mixers

A RF mixers is a component of a radio system used to adjust the frequency and band-width of the signal. It has two primary functions - (1) frequency conversion between RF and IF, usually between low and high frequencies and (2) impedance matching.

HMC208AMS8 is an integrated wideband IF mixer, from Skyworks Solutions, Inc., a leading provider of RF components. This versatile mixer covers a wide frequency range from DC to 8GHz and is suitable for a variety of applications including base station receivers, transmitter and transceiver systems.

Application field of HMC208AMS8

HMC208AMS8 is used in applications requiring low insertion loss, good inter-modulation performance, fast switching speed, low power consumption and good selectivity. It is also ideal for broadband applications such as wireless LAN’s, WiFi, WiMAX, satellite broadcast and receivers, automatic meter reading (AMR) and medical imaging systems. The HMC208AMS8 has also been used to build UWB (ultra wideband) systems such as HDTV receivers and radar systems.

The working principle of HMC208AMS8

The HMC208AMS8 is based on a Gilbert Cell topology and uses a three-port connection, with two signal ports for the RF and IF signals and an internal reference port. The mixer can be set up to receive, transmit or up-convert a signal, depending on the configuration. When two signals are applied to the input ports, the mixer will convert the lower frequency signal to the higher frequency and the higher frequency signal to the lower frequency.

The mixer uses two active transistors – a mixer transistor and an amplifier transistor – to achieve the signal conversion. The mixer transistor is responsible for creating the mixing action which converts the frequencies and the amplifier transistor amplifies the signal. The two signals, which carry information, interact in the mixer and create new signals carrying the same information. This conversion process is referred to as heterodyning.

HMC208AMS8 provides excellent isolation and harmonic suppression in addition to low distortion to enable maximum performance and superior signal quality. The device has a typical output return loss of 15dB and a typical input return loss of >18dB over all frequencies. It also features a wide dynamic range, low noise and low power consumption. The HMC208AMS8 is available in a miniature MSOP-8 package, which is ideal for space-constrained applications.