Low Noise Amplifier for 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz Wireless LAN Application Application Note AN339 Revision: Rev. 1.0 2013-08-01 RF and Protection Devices
Edition 2013-08-01 Published by Infineon Technologies AG 81726 Munich, Germany 2013 Infineon Technologies AG All Rights Reserved. Legal Disclaimer The information given in this document shall in no event be regarded as a guarantee of conditions or characteristics. With respect to any examples or hints given herein, any typical values stated herein and/or any information regarding the application of the device, Infineon Technologies hereby disclaims any and all warranties and liabilities of any kind, including without limitation, warranties of non-infringement of intellectual property rights of any third party. Information For further information on technology, delivery terms and conditions and prices, please contact the nearest Infineon Technologies Office (www.infineon.com). Warnings Due to technical requirements, components may contain dangerous substances. For information on the types in question, please contact the nearest Infineon Technologies Office. Infineon Technologies components may be used in life-support devices or systems only with the express written approval of Infineon Technologies, if a failure of such components can reasonably be expected to cause the failure of that life-support device or system or to affect the safety or effectiveness of that device or system. Life support devices or systems are intended to be implanted in the human body or to support and/or
Application Note AN339 Revision History: 2013-08-01 Previous Revision: None Page Subjects (major changes since last revision) Trademarks of Infineon Technologies AG A-GOLD, BlueMoon, COMNEON, CONVERGATE, COSIC, C166, CROSSAVE, CanPAK, CIPOS, CoolMOS, CoolSET, CONVERPATH, CORECONTROL, DAVE, DUALFALC, DUSLIC, EasyPIM, EconoBRIDGE, EconoDUAL, EconoPACK, EconoPIM, E-GOLD, EiceDRIVER, EUPEC, ELIC, EPIC, FALC, FCOS, FLEXISLIC, GEMINAX, GOLDMOS, HITFET, HybridPACK, INCA, ISAC, ISOFACE, IsoPACK, IWORX, M-GOLD, MIPAQ, ModSTACK, MUSLIC, my-d, NovalithIC, OCTALFALC, OCTAT, OmniTune, OmniVia, OptiMOS, OPTIVERSE, ORIGA, PROFET, PRO-SIL, PrimePACK, QUADFALC, RASIC, ReverSave, SatRIC, SCEPTRE, SCOUT, S-GOLD, SensoNor, SEROCCO, SICOFI, SIEGET, SINDRION, SLIC, SMARTi, SmartLEWIS, SMINT, SOCRATES, TEMPFET, thinq!, TrueNTRY, TriCore, TRENCHSTOP, VINAX, VINETIC, VIONTIC, WildPass, X-GOLD, XMM, X-PMU, XPOSYS, XWAY. Other Trademarks AMBA, ARM, MULTI-ICE, PRIMECELL, REALVIEW, THUMB of ARM Limited, UK. AUTOSAR is licensed by AUTOSAR development partnership. Bluetooth of Bluetooth SIG Inc. CAT-iq of DECT Forum. COLOSSUS, FirstGPS of Trimble Navigation Ltd. EMV of EMVCo, LLC (Visa Holdings Inc.). EPCOS of Epcos AG. FLEXGO of Microsoft Corporation. FlexRay is licensed by FlexRay Consortium. HYPERTERMINAL of Hilgraeve Incorporated. IEC of Commission Electrotechnique Internationale. IrDA of Infrared Data Association Corporation. ISO of INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR STANDARDIZATION. MATLAB of MathWorks, Inc. MAXIM of Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. MICROTEC, NUCLEUS of Mentor Graphics Corporation. Mifare of NXP. MIPI of MIPI Alliance, Inc. MIPS of MIPS Technologies, Inc., USA. murata of MURATA MANUFACTURING CO. OmniVision of OmniVision Technologies, Inc. Openwave Openwave Systems Inc. RED HAT Red Hat, Inc. RFMD RF Micro Devices, Inc. SIRIUS of Sirius Sattelite Radio Inc. SOLARIS of Sun Microsystems, Inc. SPANSION of Spansion LLC Ltd. Symbian of Symbian Software Limited. TAIYO YUDEN of Taiyo Yuden Co. TEAKLITE of CEVA, Inc. TEKTRONIX of Tektronix Inc. TOKO of TOKO KABUSHIKI KAISHA TA. UNIX of X/Open Company Limited. VERILOG, PALLADIUM of Cadence Design Systems, Inc. VLYNQ of Texas Instruments Incorporated. VXWORKS, WIND RIVER of WIND RIVER SYSTEMS, INC. ZETEX of Diodes Zetex Limited. Last Trademarks Update 2011-11-11 3 / 21
List of Content, Figures and Tables Table of Content 1 Introduction... 6 1.1 Wi-Fi... 6 2 Device description... 8 2.1 Features... 8 2.2 Key Applications... 8 3 Application Circuit... 9 3.1 Schematic Diagram... 9 3.2 Bill of Materials... 10 4 Performance Overview... 11 5 Measured Graphs... 12 6 Evaluation Board... 18 7 Authors... 20 List of Figures Figure 1 General block diagram 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi Wireless LAN (WLAN, IEEE802.11b/g/n) and WiMAX (IEEE802.16e) Front-End... 6 Figure 2 Application circuit of 2.4 GHz 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD... 9 Figure 3 Narrowband Isertion Power Gain of 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD... 12 Figure 4 Wideband Insertion Power Gain of 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD... 12 Figure 5 Input Matching of 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD... 13 Figure 6 Input Matching of 2.4 GHz 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD in Smith Chart... 13 Figure 7 Output Matching of 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD... 14 Figure 8 Output Matching of 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD in Smith Chart... 14 Figure 9 Reverse Isolation of 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD... 15 Figure 10 Noise Figure of 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD... Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 11 Input 1 db Compression Point of 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD... 16 Figure 12 Output Third Order Interpoint of 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD... 16 Figure 13 Stability factor k of 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD... 17 Figure 14 Stability factor µ1 and µ2 of 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD... 17 Figure 15 Picture of the populated board 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD (M120510)... 18 Figure 16 Zoom In picture of the populated board 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD... 18 Figure 17 Layout Proposal for RF Grounding of the 2.4-2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD... 19 Figure 18 PCB layer stack... 19 4 / 21
List of Content, Figures and Tables List of Tables Table 1 Bill-of-Materials... 10 Table 2 Electrical Characteristics (at room temperature)... 11 5 / 21
Introduction 1 Introduction 1.1 Wi-Fi Wireless-Fidelity (Wi-Fi) is a registered trademark made of the Wi-Fi Alliance created to certify devices for wireless LAN (WLAN) applications based on the IEEE 802.11 standard. The Wi-Fi function is one of the most important connectivity functions in notebooks, smart phones and tablet PCs. The WLAN standard has evolved over the years from its legacy systems known as 802.11-1997, through 802.11a, b, g, and n, to the newest 802.11ac. Today the trend is rapidly changing where Wi-Fi is not only used for high data rate access to internet but also for content consumption such as streaming music and High Definition video on TVs, smart phones, tablets, game consoles etc. In the 2.4 GHz frequeny band, the 802.11b/g/n wireless LAN devices suffer from interference from other devices operating in this ISM band, such as wireless keyboards or Bluetooth devices. In order to ensure the quality of the link path, major performance criteria of these equipments have to be fulfilled: sensitivity, strong signal capability and interference immunity. A general application diagram of 2.4 GHz wireless LAN system is shown in Figure 1. WLAN: 2.4 2.5 GHz WiMAX: 2.3 2.7 GHz BPF LNA SPDT Switch Power Detector WLAN/ WiMAX Transceiver IC ESD Diode BPF PA Figure 1 General block diagram 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi Wireless LAN (WLAN, IEEE802.11b/g/n) and WiMAX (IEEE802.16e) Front-End In order to increase the system sensitivity, an excellent low noise amplifier (LNA) in front of the receiver is mandatory, especially in an environment with very weak signal strength and because of the insertion loss of the SPDT switch and the Bandpass Filter (BPF) or diplexer. 6 / 21
Introduction The typical allowed receiver chain Noise Figure (NF) of approximately 2 db can only be achieved by using a high-gain LNA. This application note represents the results of Low Noise Amplifer for the 2.4 GHz to 2.5 GHz Wireless LAN application using BFR840L3RHESD. It achieves a NF level of approx. 1.3 db, and the gain ranges from 20 db to 21 db over this frequency band. The circuit achieves an input return loss of approx. 15 db and output return loss of 12 db. The circuit requires 9 passive 0201 SMD components, and it is unconditionally stable from 10 MHz to 10 GHz. At 2450 MHz, using two tones spacing of 1 MHz, the Output Third Order Intercept Point (OIP3) reaches +13.5 dbm. Besides, we obtain Input 1 db Compression Point (IP1dB) of - 18.6 dbm at 2450 MHz. This application note focuses on the LNA block, but Infineon also supports RF-switches, TVS-diodes for ESD protection and RF Schottky diodes for power detection for this application. 7 / 21
Device description 2 Device description The BFR840L3RHESD is a low noise SiGe:C HBT transistor. It provides inherently good input and output power match as well as noise match. Without lossy external matching components at the input leads to a low external parts count, to a very good noise figure and to a very high transducer gain in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz WLAN application. Integrated protection elements at in- and output make the device robust against ESD and excessive RF input power. The device offers its high performance at low current and voltage and is especially well-suited for portable battery powered applications. The BFR840L3RHESD is housed in low-height 0.31mm TSLP-3-9 package specially fitting into modules. Further variants are available in industry standard visibleleads SOT343 package (BFP840ESD) and in flat-leads TSFP-4-1 package (BFP840FESD). 2.1 Features Based on Infineon s reliable, high volume SiGe:C technology High end RF performance and robustness: 20 dbm maximum RF input power, 1.5 kv HBM ESD hardness Transition frequency f T = 75 GHz enables best in class noise performance at high frequencies: NF min = 0.65 db at 5.5 GHz, 1.1 db at 12 GHz, 1.8 V, 5 ma High gain S21 2 = 19 db at 5.5 GHz, 1.8 V, 10 ma Ideal for low voltage applications e.g. V CC = 1.2 V and 1.8 V (2.85 V, 3.3 V, 3.6 V requires corresponding collector resistor) Low power consumption, ideal for mobile applications Easy to use Pb free (RoHS compliant) and halogen free industry standard package with visible leads 2.2 Key Applications The BFR840L3RHESD s key applications include Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) in Mobile and fixed connectivity applications: WLAN 802.11, WiMAX and UWB Satellite communication systems: satellite radio (SDARs, DAB), navigation systems and C-band LNB (1st and 2nd stage LNA) Ku-band LNB front-end (2nd stage or 3rd stage LNA and active mixer) Ka-band oscillators (DROs) 8 / 21
3 Application Circuit 3.1 Schematic Diagram Application Circuit V cc = 3.0 V All passives are 0201 case size Inductors LQP30T Series Capacitors GRM Series J3 DC Connector I = 8.9 ma C3 33 pf R1 33k Ohm R3 120 ohms C4 33 pf R2 15 ohms J1 RF Port1 INPUT C1 1.2 pf L1 2.2 nh L2 1.8 nh C2 Q1 22 pf BFR840L3RHESD J2 RF Port2 OUTPUT A proper RF grounding is required to ensure the LNA performance. Please refer to Figure 17 for the layout proposal. PCB = M120510 BFR840L3RHESD PCB Board Material = Standard FR4 Layer spacing (top RF to internal ground plane): 0.2 mm Figure 2 Total Component Count = 10 including BFR840L3RHESD transistor Inductors = 2 (Low Q) Resistors = 3 Capacitors = 4 Application circuit of 2.4 GHz 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD 9 / 21
Application Circuit 3.2 Bill of Materials Table 1 Bill-of-Materials Symbol Value Unit Package Manufacturer Comment C1 1.2 pf 0201 Murata GRM0335 series Input matching and DC blocking C2 22 pf 0201 Murata GRM0335 series Output DC blocking C3 33 pf 0201 Murata GRM0335 series RF decoupling C4 33 pf 0201 Murata GRM0335 series RF decoupling R1 33 kω 0201 Various DC biasing R2 15 Ω 0201 Various Output matching and stability improvement R3 120 Ω 0201 Various DC biasing (provides DC negative feedback to stabilize DC operating point over temperature variation, transistor hfe variation, etc.) L1 2.2 nh 0201 Murata LQP30T Input matching L2 1.8 nh 0201 Murata LQP30T Output matching Q1 BFR840L3RHESD TSLP-3-9 Infineon Technologies SiGe:C Heterojunction Bipolar RF Transistor 10 / 21
Performance Overview 4 Performance Overview Device: Application: BFR840L3RHESD Low Noise Amplifier for 2.4-2.5 GHz Wireless LAN with BFR840L3RHESD using 0201 SMDs PCB Marking: BFR840L3RHESD TSLP-3-9 M120510 Table 2 Electrical Characteristics (at room temperature) Parameter Symbol Value Unit Comment / Test Condition DC Voltage Vcc 3.0 V DC Current Icc 9.0 ma Frequency Range Freq 2400 2500 MHz Gain G 20.8 20.5 db Noise Figure NF 1.38 1.26 db Input Return Loss RLin 16.3 15.1 db PCB and SMA connector losses of 0.1 db subtracted Output Return Loss RLout 12.2 13.5 db Reverse Isolation IRev 26.5 26.3 db Input P1dB IP1dB -18.6 dbm f = 2450 MHz Output P1dB OP1dB +1.1 dbm f = 2450 MHz Input IP3 IIP3-7.2 dbm Ouput IP3 OIP3 13.5 dbm Stability k > 1 -- f 1 = 2450 MHz, f 2 = 2451 MHz, Pin = -30 dbm each tone f 1 = 2450 MHz, f 2 = 2451 MHz, Pin = -30 dbm each tone Unconditionally stable from 10 MHz to 10 GHz 11 / 21
Measured Graphs 5 Measured Graphs 24 Insertion Power Gain InBand 22 2400 MHz 20.8 db 2500 MHz 20.5 db 20 18 16 2000 2200 2400 2600 2800 3000 Frequency (MHz) Figure 3 Narrowband Isertion Power Gain of 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD 25 20 2400 MHz 20.8 db Insertion Power Gain WideBand 2500 MHz 20.5 db 15 10 5 0 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 Frequency (MHz) Figure 4 Wideband Insertion Power Gain of 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD 12 / 21
0 BFR840L3RHESD -1.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 10.0 Measured Graphs 0 Input Matching -5-10 -15 2400 MHz -16.34 db 2500 MHz -15.08 db -20 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 Frequency (MHz) Figure 5 Input Matching of 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD 0.6 Input Matching Smith 0.8 1.0 1.0 Swp Max 6000MHz 2.0 0.4 3.0 4.0 5.0 0.2 10.0-10.0-0.2-0.4 2500 MHz r 1.00647 x -0.359158 2400 MHz r 1.31991 x -0.152601-3.0-5.0-4.0-2.0-0.6-0.8 Swp Min 1000MHz Figure 6 Input Matching of 2.4 GHz 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD in Smith Chart 13 / 21
0 BFR840L3RHESD Measured Graphs -1.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 10.0 0 Output Matching -5-10 -15 2400 MHz -12.18 db 2500 MHz -13.48 db -20 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 Frequency (MHz) Figure 7 Output Matching of 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD 0.6 Output Matching Smith 0.8 1.0 1.0 Swp Max 6000MHz 2.0 0.4 3.0 0.2 2500 MHz r 0.652084 x -0.0370683 4.0 5.0 10.0-0.2 2400 MHz r 0.622035 x -0.13168-10.0-5.0-4.0-0.4-3.0-2.0-0.6-0.8 Swp Min 1000MHz Figure 8 Output Matching of 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD in Smith Chart 14 / 21
NF(dB) BFR840L3RHESD Measured Graphs -10 Reverse Isolation -20 2400 MHz -26.5 db -30 2500 MHz -26.3 db -40-50 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 Frequency (MHz) Figure 9 Reverse Isolation of 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD 2 Noise Figure 1.8 1.6 2400 MHz 1.385 db 2500 MHz 1.265 db 1.4 1.2 1 2400 2420 2440 2460 2480 2500 Frequency (MHz) Figure 10 Noise Figure of 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD 15 / 21
Power (dbm) Gain(dB) BFR840L3RHESD Measured Graphs 30 Input 1dB Compression Point_2450MHz 25 20-30 dbm 20.78 db -18.6 dbm 19.78 db 15 10 5 0-30 -25-20 -15-10 Power_in (dbm) Figure 11 Input 1 db Compression Point of 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD 0-20 Output 3rd Order Intercept Point_2450MHz 2450 MHz -9.47 db 2451 MHz -9.7 db -40-60 2449 MHz -59.4 db 2452 MHz -56.1 db -80-100 2448 2449 2450 2451 2452 2453 Frequency (MHz) Figure 12 Output Third Order Interpoint of 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD 16 / 21
Measured Graphs 3 Stability k Factor 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 10 2010 4010 6010 8010 10000 Frequency (MHz) Figure 13 Stability factor k of 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD 2 Stability Mu Factor Mu2 factor 1.5 Mu1 factor 1 0.5 0 10 2010 4010 6010 8010 10000 Frequency (MHz) Figure 14 Stability factor µ1 and µ2 of 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD 17 / 21
6 Evaluation Board Evaluation Board Figure 15 Picture of the populated board 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD (M120510) Figure 16 Zoom In picture of the populated board 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD 18 / 21
Evaluation Board Figure 17 Layout Proposal for RF Grounding of the 2.4-2.5 GHz WLAN LNA with BFR840L3RHESD Vias FR4 Core, 0.2mm Copper 35µm FR4 Prepreg, 0.8mm Figure 18 PCB layer stack 19 / 21
Authors 7 Authors Bingqing Dai, Workstudent of Business Unit RF and Protection Devices Shamsuddin Ahmed, Application Engineer of Business Unit RF and Protection Devices 20 / 21
w w w. i n f i n e o n. c o m Published by Infineon Technologies AG AN339