CMX994 Direct Conversion I/Q Demodulator - DCRx has the Edge

CML Microcircuits (www.cmlmicro.com), a leading innovator and provider of low-power semiconductors for global wireless and two-way radio communications markets, has added the CMX994 Direct Conversion Receiver (DCRx) to its family of RF Integrated Circuits.

The CMX994 targets the next generation of multi-mode Software Defined Radios (SDR) for wireless data and two-way radio applications. Its design provides the optimum route for on-board integration allowing a small RF receiver to be realised with a minimum of external components.

Until recently, most radios used the superheterodyne (Superhet) receiver, but enhancements in semiconductor technology have seen DCRx increasingly replace superhet as technology of choice for radio receivers in many applications. A DCRx mixes the wanted RF signal down to 0Hz in a single quadrature mixing process using a local oscillator (LO) tuned to the wanted RF channel frequency. Selectivity filtering and gain can now take place at baseband with practical, low power, analogue and digital circuits. DCRx also eliminates the need for an image reject filter.

Key features of the CMX994 include an on-chip VCO for VHF applications, an operating range of 100MHz to 1GHz, precision baseband filtering with selectable bandwidths and the smallest PCB area, typically less than 50% of a dual superhet. Another important feature is the single ended RF connections meaning no baluns are required.

The small size and flexibility of direct conversion make it a key element for the next generation of multi-moden software defined radios (SDR) for wireless data and digital two-way radio applications.

The CMX994 operates at 3.0 – 3.6 V, and is available in a Q4 40 VQFN package.

For a datasheet, application notes and product support information, visit www.cmlmicro.com