ECE 4670 Spring 2014 Lab 4

Radio Receivers for Analog and Digital

Modulation
1 Introduction
This lab explores superheterodyne single and dual conversion receiver subsystems for analog and
digital modulation. Two VHF (30–300 MHz) FM receivers are considered. The first receiver
employes a wideband (about 200 kHz) IF subsystem centered at 10.7 MHz, while the second
employes a narrowband (about 10 kHz) IF subsystem centered at 455 kHz. The narrowband FM
receiver also utilizes dual conversion, with the first IF at 10.7 MHz and the second IF at 455 kHz.
Both receivers have been constructed using readily available radio frequency integrated circuits
(RFICs) from NXP semiconductor1 . The receivers are presently in prototype form, constructed on
an RF breadboard. In the future the receivers will be fabricated using a custom PCB.
The high sensitivity of these receivers allows the wideband receiver to easily tune in FM broad-
cast stations and the narrowband receiver to receive the Colorado Springs national weather service
(NOAA) station, and lab broadcast frequency shift keyed (FSK) digital modulation.

1.1 Wideband FM Receiver

The block diagram for the wideband receiver is given in Figure 1. The low-noise amplifier (LNA)
is not implemented at this time, nor is the front-end bandpass filter (BPF). A short wire (clip lead)
will serve as the antenna in the experiment. The receiver requires and external local oscillator

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Figure 1: Wideband FM receiver block diagram.

(LO). In order to receive VHF signals, in particular FM broadcast which covers 87.5–108 MHz,
the output of the Agilent 33250, which will serve as the LO, needs to be frequency doubled. The
Agilent 33250 has a maximum frequency of 80 MHz, but with the doubler the effective maximum
1
http://www.nxp.com/
 1.1 Wideband FM Receiver

LO frequency is 160 MHz. With low-side tuning for the LO, this means that carrier frequencies up
160 + 10.7 = 170.7 MHz can down-converted. The doubler is a passive circuit from Minicircuits2 ,
which in simple terms acts as a full-wave rectifier, which has a strong second harmonic component.
The mixer output is processed with a multistage IF amplifier, with the 10.7 MHz IF passband
shaping formed using ceramic filters. The nominal bandwidth of each filter is 280 kHz. Note from
the schematic of Figure 2, the ceramic filters are external to the NXP SA636 RFIC. The final stage

10.7 MHz 10.7 MHz

IF BPF IF BPF IF
SFE10.7 SFE10.7
2.2k
Mixer
Test Point
10nf
10nf

10nf

10nf
FM
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 Demod
GND
IF

10.7 MHz
AMP LIMITER

NXP
MIXER
1pf Quad
Mixer SA636 FAST
QUAD

OSCILLATOR RSSI
Tank
– + PWR – +
VCC DWN

E B RSSI AUDIO

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
10nf
10nf 10nf 8.2k
FB Chip

RF
IN Note: No BPF 10nf Demod
(ant.) present. 20 4.7mf OUT

+6.0v 100nf 39
3.3v 180 AMK-2-13+

10nf 1uf reg.

RSSI LO
OUT Freq. Doubler IN

Figure 2: Single conversion VHF FM receiver schematic based on the NXP SA636 IF subsystem.

is the FM demodulator, which in this design uses a quadrature detector. The theoretical basis of
the quadrature detector will be described in a later section.

1.1.1 IF Filters
An RF receiver needs to have high gain in order process weak signals arriving from a transmitter
located many miles away. High gain over a wide bandwidth is hard to manage from a stability
standpoint. Sensitive radio receivers also need to be very selective, that is supply high gain over
just a relatively narrow band of frequencies. For the case of an FM receiver the needed bandwidth
2
www.minicircuits.com

ECE 4670 Lab 4 2

 1.1 Wideband FM Receiver

is the bandwidth of the modulated message signal following a Carson’s rule analysis. In the FM
broadcast band stations are spaced every 200 kHz at odd 100 kHz spacings, e.g., 101.1 MHz, 99.3
MHz, etc. From Wikipedia3 the one-sided baseband spectral occupancy is around 100 KHz before
being frequency modulated onto the carrier, as shown in Figure 3. The dominant baseband signals
are the L C R and L R audio signals. The peak frequency deviation is 75 kHz. If we apply

Figure 3: One-sided FM broadcast spectrum including the various subcarrier services.

Carson’s rule to just the L C R signal, which has a nominal bandwidth of 15 Khz, we arrive at a
modulated bandwidth of
 
75
BRF D 2.D C 1/W D 2 C 1 15 D 180 kHz: (1)
15
When the L R for FM stereo is included along with the other services, e.g. radio data service
(RDS) at 57 kHz, the occupied spectrum must still be within a 200 kHz wide footprint.
We desire an IF filter characteristic which passes only the signal/station of interest, rejecting
all adjacent signals. A realizable IF filter will transition from passband to stopband over a finite
band of frequencies. The ceramic filters employed in the wideband receiver design are wider than
needed, being that thy have a 3 dB bandwidth of 280 kHz. The filter specifications and plots of the
magnitude and group delay response are shown in Figure 4.

1.1.2 Quadrature Demodulator

In analog integrated circuits used for FM radio receivers and the like, an FM demodulator known as
a quadrature detector or quadrature discriminator, is quite popular. The schematic for the detector
is shown in Figure 5. The input FM signal connects to one port of a multiplier (product device).
3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FM_broadcasting

ECE 4670 Lab 4 3

 1.1 Wideband FM Receiver

7.0±2.0

MARKING

7.0±2.0
EIAJ
CODE

1.38±0.2
1.7±0.1

5.0±1.0
0.5±0.1

2.5±0.2 2.5±0.2

0.3±0.1
(1) : Input
SFELA10M7FA00-B0 (2) : Ground

3.0±1.0
(3) : Output
(in mm)
(3) (2) (1)

Center 3dB Bandwidth Attenuation Insertion Spurious Input/Output

Part Number Frequency (fo) Loss Attenuation Impedance
(MHz) (kHz) (kHz) (dB) (dB) (ohm)
SFELA10M7HA00-B0 10.700 ±30kHz 180 ±40kHz 520 max. 7.0 max. 40 min. 330
SFELA10M7GA00-B0 10.700 ±30kHz 230 ±50kHz 570 max. 4.0 ±2.0dB 40 min. 330
SFELA10M7FA00-B0 10.700 ±30kHz 280 ±50kHz 650 max. 4.0 ±2.0dB 30 min. 330

(a)
SFELA10M7FA00-B0 SFELA10M7FA00-B0
0
0 5.00

10
1 4.50

20
2 4.00
Attenuation (dB)
Attenuation (dB)

G.D.T. (µsec.)

30
3 3.50

40
4 3.00

50
5 2.50

60
6 2.00

70
7 1.50
10.500 10.600 10.700 10.800 10.900 8.700 9.700 10.700 11.700 12.700
Frequency (MHz) Frequency (MHz)

(b) (c)

Figure 4: Murata SFE10M7 ceramic IF filter specifications: (a) spec table, (b) passband detail, and
(c) full band response.

A quadrature signal is formed by passing the input to a capacitor series connected to the other
multiplier input and a parallel tank circuit resonant at the input carrier frequency. The quadrature
circuit receives a phase shift from the capacitor and additional phase shift from the tank circuit.
The phase shift produced by the tank circuit is time varying in proportion to the input frequency
deviation. A mathematical model for the circuit begins with the FM input signal

xc .t / D Ac cos !c t C .t/ (2)

 

The quadrature signal is

 
.t/
xquad .t/ D K1 Ac sin !c t C .t/ C K2 (3)
dt

ECE 4670 Lab 4 4

 CHAPTER 3. ANALOG MODULATION

1.1 Wideband FM Receiver

FM Quadrature Detectors
Usually a
xc(t) xout(t) lowpass
filter is
C1
xquad(t) added here

Tank circuit
Lp Cp tuned to fc

Quadrature detector schematic

Figure 5: Quadrature detector schematic.

• In analog integrated circuits used for FM radio receivers and

the like,
where the constants K1 andanKFM
2 aredemodulator knownparameters.
determined by circuit as a quadrature detector
The multiplier output, as-
suming a lowpass filter removes the sum terms, is
or quadrature discriminator, is quite popular
 
1 d.t/
• K1 Ac sin to
2
xout .t/ connects
The input FM signal K2one port of a multiplier (prod- (4)
2 dt
uctof device)
By proper choice K2 the argument of the sin function is small, and a small angle approximation
yields
• A quadrature signal1 is formed
d.t/ by1 passing2 the input to a capaci-
xout .t/ ' K1 K2 A2c D K1 K2 Ac KD m.t/ (5)
tor series connected
2 to thedtother 2multiplier input and a parallel
1.1.3
tank circuit resonant at the input carrier frequency
Laboratory Exercises

• The Springs
1. The Colorado quadrature
market circuit receives
has a lot a phase stations.
of FM broadcast shift from the of
Several capacitor
them are likely
familiar toand
you.additional
Set-up the Agilent 4395Afrom
phase shift spectrum analyzer
the tank with a VHF flex antenna con-
circuit
nected to a 50 ohm input, as shown in Figure 6. Set the span to 87.5 to 108 MHz. This will
allow you to see the entire FM broadcast spectrum. At this resolution each FM station will
• The phase shift produced by the tank circuit is time varying in
appear as a spectral line. Count the number of strong signals you see. For a few stations ver-
ify using proportion tothe
the marker that thecenter
inputfrequency
frequency deviation
of each station falls at an odd multiple of 100
kHz and that the minimum spacing between stations is thus 200 kHz. Just from the spectrum
A mathematical
• display,
analyzer model for
and your knowledge of FMthestations
circuitin begins withSprings
the Colorado the FM inputclearly
market,
identify one of
signal your favorite stations by setting the marker at the station center frequency.
2. Spectrally zoom into one of the xstronger Ac [ωc t and
c (t) = stations + φ(t)]
measure the approximate occupied
spectral bandwidth. Does it conform to needs of the 200 kHz spacing rule? The spectrum
will be changes as the applied modulation, e.g. musicECE
3-72 or talking changes overSystems
5625 Communication time. I
3. In the next step you will power up the wideband receiver. You will need to know how to set
the LO frequency to receive FM broadcast stations. Develop two formulas for determining
the required LO frequency to receive a station using either high-side or low-side LO tuning.
Your functions should take as input the desired station frequency, e.g., 99.1 MHz and return
the LO frequency. You need to take into account the fact that the LO frequency is doubled,
as shown in Figure 1.

ECE 4670 Lab 4 5

 1.1 Wideband FM Receiver

Agilent 4395A
Agilent 4395A

VHF
Flex
Antenna

Line
0 1
RF Out R .. A .. B

Span 87.5 to 108 MHz to see available

FM broadcast stations in Colorado Springs

Figure 6: Agilent 4395A spectrum analyzer with VHF flex antenna mounted at an input port, to
observe the FM broadcast signals present on the 87.5 – 108 MHz band.

4. Finally, on to the receiver hardware. Configure the wideband receiver test set-up according
to Figure 7. The photograph of Figure 8 will help you locate the power and signal input
and output test points on wideband radio chassis. Use a bench supply for the 3.3v voltage
regulator that is on the board. A supply setting of 6v is sufficient. Be careful to not over-
voltage the RFIC. The LO signal needs to be connected to the board via a BNC cable. Set
the LO level from the Agilent 33250 to about 600 mv pp, but not more than 1 v pp. Be sure
to turn the RF output on. As the supply voltage is brought up to 6 v (chip vcc of 3.3v) you
should hear noise coming from the PC speakers. This indicates that the receiver is likely
working, but is just not tuned to a station yet.

+6.0v
SA636
Receiver Demod To Scope and
Board Out PC Speakers
RF
In
Optional Test Mixer To Spectrum Analyzer
LO TP High Impedance Input
In
RF Generator
with Antenna Tune to received desired
Agilent 33250
Agilent 33250A
FM broadcast signals using
100.000 kHz
both high-side and low-side
Generate a 100.1 MHz tuning.
Output
test FM signal with 75kHz
deviation.
600 mv pp

Figure 7: Wideband FM receiver test set-up.

5. Adjust the LO, using your formula, to tune in and demodulate one or more of the FM broad-
cast stations you earlier identified on the spectrum analyzer.

ECE 4670 Lab 4 6

 1.2 Narrowband Receiver

10.7 MHz +6v Quadrature

ceramic BPFs Jack Detector Tank

Mixer
test
point SA636 RSSI
Mini Circuits Radio Output
AMK-2-13+ Chip
Freq. Doubler

Receiver LO Input Detector (audio)Output

Input (Ant.) to Doubler

Figure 8: Single conversion wideband VHF FM receiver based on the NXP SA636 RFIC.

6. To actually see the superheterodyne principle in action place a probe from a high impedance
input on the spectrum analyzer to mixer test point (yellow ring) in the upper left corner of
the PCB photo of Figure 8. Make use if the ground pin (black ring) as well. Center the
spectrum analyzer on 10.7 MHz with a span of about 200–400 kHz. As you tune the LO you
should see the spectra of the FM stations, originally seen at 87.5–108 MHz, translated down
to 10.7 MHz. Verify that the ordering of the stations, low frequency to high frequency, or
high frequency to low frequency is dependent upon the LO tuning being either high-side or
low-side to the carrier.

1.2 Narrowband Receiver

The block diagram for the narrowband receiver is given in Figure 9. The low-noise amplifier (LNA)
is not implemented at this time, but a tank circuit is located at the input to provide some bandpass
filtering. A short wire (clip lead) will serve as the antenna in the experiment. This receiver also re-
quires and external local oscillator (LO). In order to receive VHF signals, in particular narrowband
FM broadcasts, such as the national weather service4 , which has carrier frequencies near 162.4
MHz, the output of the Agilent 33250, which will serve as the LO, again needs to be frequency
doubled. Other VHF band services using narrowband FM include police and fire departments and
Ham radio operators near 146.94 MHz.
The narrowband receiver utilizes a dual conversion superheterodyne approach. The first mixer
output is processed with a single stage IF filter centered at 10.7 MHz. The 10.7 MHz IF signal then
enters a second mixer with a fixed LO of 11.155 MHz. The difference frequency is at 455 KHz.
The 455 kHz difference frequency is processed with a multistage IF amplifier, with the 455kHz IF
passband shaping formed using ceramic filters. The nominal bandwidth of each filter is 10 kHz.
4
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/nwrbro.htm

ECE 4670 Lab 4 7

 1.2 Narrowband Receiver

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Figure 9: Narrowband dual conversion FM receiver block diagram.

Note from the schematic of Figure 10, the ceramic filters 10.7 MHz and 455 kHz, are external to
the NXP SA602 and SA606 RFICs. The final stage is the FM demodulator, which in this design is
again a quadrature detector.

1.2.1 IF Filters
For the case of the narrowband FM receiver the signal bandwidth is much narrower than in the
wideband case (10 kHz versus 200 kHz). The NOAA stations are spaced by 25 kHz from 162.400
– 162.550 MHz. The NOAA weather stations in Colorado are listed in Table 1.
The 10.7 MHz first-conversion IF filter is the same 280 kHz bandwidth SFU 10.7, as used in
the wideband design. For the second IF, the ceramic filters have a 6 dB bandwidth of 10 kHz. The
filter specifications and plots of the magnitude and group delay response are shown in Figure 11.

1.2.2 Laboratory Exercises

1. In the Colorado Springs area the NOAA station easiest to receive is WXM56 from Colorado
Springs. Looking at Table 1, we see hat this station has its transmitting antenna on Cheyenne
Mountain. The transmission power is small, only 100 W, compared with broadcast FM
which is over 1000 W. Using the VHF flex antenna, as shown in Figure 6, try to find WXM56
on the spectrum analyzer. You have to reduce the attenuation on the analyzer front-end to
zero dB, to find the signal.

2. In the next step you will power up the narrowband receiver. You will need to know how
to set the LO frequency to receive narrowband FM signals, like NOAA stations. Develop
two formulas for determining the required LO frequency to receive a station using either
high-side or low-side LO tuning. Your functions should take as input the desired station

ECE 4670 Lab 4 8

 1.2 Narrowband Receiver

455 kHz 455 kHz

2nd Mixer IF BPF IF BPF
Test Point 2.2k 2nd IF
CFU455 CFU455
1st Mixer
Test Point 2.2k 10nf
Freq. Doubler
2.2k
2nd 5.1k

10nf
Mixer

10nf

10nf

10nf
180

10.7 MHz
AMK-2-13+ 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11
IF BPF
39 SFE10.7 IF
LIMITER
AMP

LO NXP FM
IN 4.7mf +6v 10pf Demod
SA605 RSSI
390 OSCILLATOR 455 kHz
FB Chip Quad
Jumper E B
Tank
10nf 10nf 10nf 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
10nf
10nf

8 7 6 5
V CC

10nf 100nf
VOLTAGE OSCILLATOR
REGULATOR

10nf 10nf 10pf FB Chip

SA602
Demod
NXP Jumper 27pf 2.2mf
OUT
GROUND 10mh 100k 100nf
1 2 3 4
100k
4.7pf 11.155 MHz
First Mixer 10.7 MHz Crystal
IF Input +6v RSSI






RF 2nd LO OUT
Balun Oscillator
+8.0
–21v 6v
RF reg.
Input 10nf 1uf

Figure 10: Dual conversion VHF FM receiver schematic based on the NXP SA605 IF subsystem
plus the NXP SA602 mixer.

frequency, e.g., 162.475 MHz and return the LO frequency. You need to take into account
the fact that the LO frequency is doubled and the receiver is dual-conversion, as shown in
Figure 9. Given that the Agilent 33250 only tunes to 80 MHz, which formula will you be
using in practice?

3. Finally, on to the receiver hardware. Configure the narrowband receiver test set-up according
to Figure 12, but don’t connect the LO just yet. The photograph of Figure 13 will help you
locate the power and signal input and output test points on wideband radio chassis. Use
a bench supply for about 8v (6v following the voltage regulator. As the supply voltage is
brought up to 8v (6v internally) you should hear noise coming from the PC speakers. This

ECE 4670 Lab 4 9

 1.2 Narrowband Receiver

Table 1: NOAA stations throughout colorado.

indicates that the receiver is likely working, but is just not tuned to a station yet.

4. Before connecting the LO to the frequency doubler you will test that the receiver functions

ECE 4670 Lab 4 10

 1.2 Narrowband Receiver

!"# 2+3)01+/01
8.00 7.00

!"# $ !"%&'&()*+,+*-.+/01
8.00 Model 6dB Attenuation Attenuation Insertion Input/Output
Number Bandwidth Bandwidth ±100kHz Loss Impedance
0.80 (kHz) min (kHz@dB) (dB) min (dB) max (ohms)
4.00 CFU455B2 ±15.00 ±30.00 40 27 4 1500
0.20 0.60 CFU455C2 ±12.50 ±24.00 40 27 4 1500
CFU455D2 ±10.00 ±20.00 40 27 4 1500
3.30
CFU455E2 ±7.50 ±15.00 40 27 6 1500
OUT CFU455F2 ±6.00 ±12.50 40 27 6 2000
4.30 CFU455G2 ±4.50 ±10.00 40 25 6 2000
IN GND
CFU455HT ±3.00 ±9.00 40 35 6 2000
1.20 ACTUAL SIZE CFU455IT ±2.00 ±7.50 40 35 6 2000
2.70

Scale 2:1 (a)

CFULA455KE4A-B0 CFULA455KE4A-B0
0 200 0

10 10

20 20
150
30 30

40 40
G.D.T. (µsec.)

Attenuation (dB)
Attenuation (dB)

50 100 50

60 60

70 70
50
80 80

90 90

100
100 0
430 455 480 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
Frequency (kHz) Frequency (kHz)

(b) (c)

Figure 11: Murata CFU 455D2 ceramic IF filter specifications: (a) spec table, (b) passband detail
of a similar design, and (c) full band response of a similar design.

properly from the second mixer input to the demodulated output. Move the blue jumper from
the default position (as in the photo of Figure 8) so a 10.7 MHz signal can be directly applied
to the 10.7 MHz IF input, below the blue jumper. The BNC input is located on the lower left
side of the board . Configure the Agilent 33250 to produce a narrowband FM signal with
fc D 10:7 MHz and a deviation of about 2 KHz. Set the output to about 100 mv pp. Just
brining the BNC cable lead end close to the 10.7 MHz IF input should quiet the noise PC
speakers and you should hear the modulation tone. The high sensitivity is due to the very
high gain of the second IF amplifier chain. This verifies that the back-end of the receiver is
working properly.

5. Now connect the LO (Agilent 33250) to the board via a BNC cable. Set the LO level from
the Agilent 33250 to about 600 mv pp, but not more than 1 v pp. Be sure to turn the RF

ECE 4670 Lab 4 11

 1.3 Appendix A: Data Sheet Highlights

+8–21v
SA602/
SA605 Demod To Scope and
Receiver Out PC Speakers
RF Board
In
Mixer 2 To Spectrum Analyzer
LO TP High Impedance Input
RF Generator In
with Antenna
Tune to received desired
Agilent 33250
Agilent 33250A
FM broadcast signals using
Generate a 163 MHz test FM 100.000 kHz
both high-side and low-side
signal with 5kHz deviation. tuning.
Output
Generate a 163 MHz test FSK signal 600 mv pp
@ 5 kbps 1 – 4 kHz deviation

Figure 12: Narrowband FM receiver test set-up.

output on. Place a clip-lead on one of the two receiver input test points in the lower left of
Figure 13. Reconnect the jumper between the first-mixer output and the 10.7 MHz IF input.
You can do this by carefully springing the wires together, no need to twist or solder, etc. You
lab instructor will help you.

6. Adjust the LO, located about in using the one valid formula, to tune in and demodulate
NOAA station WXM56. The overall sound quality of this signal will be poorer than the
broadcast FM stations you hear from the wideband receiver. The signal is also rather weak,
so you may have to position antenna carefully to get good signal strength.

7. To actually see the superheterodyne principle in action in this dual-conversion receiver, place
a probe from a high impedance input on the spectrum analyzer to the first and then the second
mixer tests found on the upper left side of the PCB photo of Figure 13. Center the spectrum
analyzer on 455 kHz with a span of about 50 kHz. As you tune the LO you should see the
spectra of the WXM56 station, originally at 162.475 MHz, translated down to 455 kHz.

8. In this section you explore digital modulation transmission using the Rhode & Schwarz
SMIQ vector signal generator using a VHF flex antenna. The receiver will be the narrowband
FM radio. The SMIQ will be used to generate frequency-shift keyed (FSK) modulation
with fc D 163 MHz a data rate of 5 kbps with a 1 – 4 KHz peak deviation. A PN test
sequence will be configured on the SMIQ as the data source. The demodulated output will
be confirmed by observing the data pattern on the scope. Your lab instructor will help you
configure the SMIQ.

1.3 Appendix A: Data Sheet Highlights

ECE 4670 Lab 4 12

 1.3 Appendix A: Data Sheet Highlights

10.7 MHz 1st IF +6v 455 kHz 2nd IF

ceramic BPF Jack ceramic BPF

2nd Mixer
test point Quadrature
SA605 Detector Tank
Radio
1st Mixer FSK
Chip
Output output

10.7 MHz FSK/

IF Input 11.155 MHz Audio
Jumper XTAL Osc. Jumper
SA602
RSSI
Mixer
External output
Chip
10.7 MHz
IF Input
Doubler

LO Input Receiver Detector (audio) Output

to doubler Input (Ant.)

Figure 13: Dual conversion VHF FM receiver based on the NXP SA602 and SA605.

ECE 4670 Lab 4 13

 1.3 Appendix A: Data Sheet Highlights

Philips Semiconductors Product specification

Low voltage high performance mixer FM

SA636
IF system with high-speed RSSI

DESCRIPTION PIN CONFIGURATION

The SA636 is a low-voltage high performance monolithic FM IF
system with high-speed RSSI incorporating a mixer/oscillator, two DK Package
limiting intermediate frequency amplifiers, quadrature detector,
logarithmic received signal strength indicator (RSSI), voltage
RFIN 1 20 MIXER OUT
regulator, wideband data output and fast RSSI op amps. The SA636
is available in 20-lead SSOP (shrink small outline package). RF BYPASS 2 19 IF AMP DECOUPLING

The SA636 was designed for high bandwidth portable XTAL OSC (EMITTER) 3 18 IF AMP IN
communication applications and will function down to 2.7 V. The RF 4 17
XTAL OSC (BASE) IF AMP DECOUPLING
section is similar to the famous SA605. The data output has a
minimum bandwidth of 600 kHz. This is designed to demodulate VCC 5 16 IF AMP OUT

wideband data. The RSSI output is amplified. The RSSI output has RSSI FEEDBACK 6 15 GND
access to the feedback pin. This enables the designer to adjust the
RSSIOUT 7 14 LIMITER IN
level of the outputs or add filtering.
POWER DOWN CONTROL 8 13 LIMITER DECOUPLING
SA636 incorporates a power-down mode which powers down the
device when Pin 8 is LOW. Power down logic levels are CMOS and DATA OUT 9 12 LIMITER DECOUPLING
TTL compatible with high input impedance. QUADRATURE IN 10 11 LIMITER OUT

FEATURES
• Wideband data output (600 kHz min.) SR00491

• Fast RSSI rise and fall times Figure 1. Pin configuration

• Low power consumption: 6.5 mA typ. at 3 V

• Mixer input to >500 MHz APPLICATIONS
• Mixer conversion power gain of 11 dB at 240 MHz • DECT (Digital European Cordless Telephone)
• Mixer noise figure of 12 dB at 240 MHz • Digital cordless telephones
• XTAL oscillator effective to 150 MHz (L.C. oscillator to 1 GHz local • Digital cellular telephones
oscillator can be injected)
• Portable high performance communications receivers
• 92 dB of IF Amp/Limiter gain
• Single conversion VHF/UHF receivers
• 25 MHz limiter small signal bandwidth
• FSK and ASK data receivers
• Temperature compensated logarithmic Received Signal Strength
Indicator (RSSI) with a dynamic range in excess of 90 dB • Wireless LANs
• RSSI output internal op amp
• Internal op amps with rail-to-rail outputs
• Low external component count; suitable for crystal/ceramic/LC
filters
• Excellent sensitivity: 0.54 µV into 50 ! matching network for
12 dB SINAD (Signal to Noise and Distortion ratio) for 1 kHz tone
with RF at 240 MHz and IF at 10.7 MHz
• ESD hardened
• 10.7 MHz filter matching (330 !)
• Power-down mode (ICC = 200 µA)

ORDERING INFORMATION
DESCRIPTION TEMPERATURE RANGE ORDER CODE DWG #
20-Pin Plastic Shrink Small Outline Package (Surface-mount) –40 °C to +85 °C SA636DK SOT266–1

Figure 14: A portion (first page) of the NXP SA636 data sheet.

ECE 4670 Lab 4

2003 Aug 01 2
14
 1.3 Appendix A: Data Sheet Highlights

Figure 15: A portion (first page) of the NXP SA602 data sheet.

ECE 4670 Lab 4 15

 1.3 Appendix A: Data Sheet Highlights

Philips Semiconductors Product specification

High performance low power mixer FM IF system SA605

DESCRIPTION PIN CONFIGURATION

The SA605 is a high performance monolithic low-power FM IF
N, D and DK Packages
system incorporating a mixer/oscillator, two limiting intermediate
frequency amplifiers, quadrature detector, muting, logarithmic
RFIN 1 20 MIXER OUT
received signal strength indicator (RSSI), and voltage regulator. The
SA605 combines the functions of Signetics’ SA602 and SA604A, but RF BYPASS 2 19 IF AMP DECOUPLING
features a higher mixer input intercept point, higher IF bandwidth XTAL OSC 3 18 IF AMP IN
(25MHz) and temperature compensated RSSI and limiters
XTAL OSC 4 17 IF AMP DECOUPLING
permitting higher performance application. The SA605 is available
in 20-lead dual-in-line plastic, 20-lead SOL (surface-mounted MUTEIN 5 16 IF AMP OUT
miniature package) and 20-lead SSOP (shrink small outline 15 GND
VCC 6
package).
RSSIOUT 7 14 LIMITER IN
The SA605 and SA615 are functionally the same device types. The
MUTED AUDIO OUT 8 13 LIMITER DECOUPLING
difference between the two devices lies in the guaranteed
specifications. The SA615 has a higher ICC, lower input third order UNMUTED AUDIO OUT 9 12 LIMITER DECOUPLING
intercept point, lower conversion mixer gain, lower limiter gain, lower QUADRATURE IN 10 11 LIMITER OUT
AM rejection, lower SINAD, higher THD, and higher RSSI error than
the SA605. Both the SA605 and SA615 devices will meet the EIA SR00335
specifications for AMPS and TACS cellular radio applications.
Figure 1. Pin Configuration
For additional technical information please refer to application notes
AN1994, 1995 and 1996, which include example application FEATURES
diagrams, a complete overview of the product, and artwork for • Low power consumption: 5.7mA typical at 6V
reference.
• Mixer input to >500MHz
APPLICATIONS • Mixer conversion power gain of 13dB at 45MHz
• Cellular radio FM IF • Mixer noise figure of 4.6dB at 45MHz
• High performance communications receivers • XTAL oscillator effective to 150MHz (L.C. oscillator to 1GHz local
• Single conversion VHF/UHF receivers oscillator can be injected)

• SCA receivers • 102dB of IF Amp/Limiter gain

• RF level meter • 25MHz limiter small signal bandwidth
• Spectrum analyzer • Temperature compensated logarithmic Received Signal Strength
Indicator (RSSI) with a dynamic range in excess of 90dB
• Instrumentation • Two audio outputs - muted and unmuted
• FSK and ASK data receivers • Low external component count; suitable for crystal/ceramic/LC
• Log amps filters

• Wideband low current amplification • Excellent sensitivity:

0.22µV into 50! matching network for 12dB
SINAD (Signal to Noise and Distortion ratio) for 1kHz tone with RF
at 45MHz and IF at 455kHz
• SA605 meets cellular radio specifications
• ESD hardened

ORDERING INFORMATION
DESCRIPTION TEMPERATURE RANGE ORDER CODE DWG #
20-Pin Plastic Dual In-Line Package (DIP) –40 to +85°C SA605N SOT146-1
20-Pin Plastic Small Outline Large (SOL) package –40 to +85°C SA605D SOT163-1
20-Pin Plastic Shrink Small Outline Package (SSOP) –40 to +85°C SA605DK SOT266-1

Figure 16: A portion (first page) of the NXP SA605 data sheet.

ECE 4670 Lab 4 16

1997 Nov 07 2 853-1401 18663