UM10380 User manual for the BGU7005 GPS LNA evaluation board Rev. 01 — 3 November 2009 User manual Document information Info Content Keywords LNA, GPS, BGU7005 Abstract This document explains the BGU7005 GPS low noise amplifier evaluation board UM10380 NXP Semiconductors BGU7005 GPS LNA EVB Revision history Rev Date Description 01 3 November 2009 First Release. Contact information For additional information, please visit: http://www.nxp.com For sales office addresses, please send an email to: [email protected] UM10380_1 User manual © NXP B.V. 2009. All rights reserved. Rev. 01 — 3 November 2009 2 of 14 UM10380 NXP Semiconductors BGU7005 GPS LNA EVB 1. Introduction NXP Semiconductors’ BGU7005 is a low-noise amplifier for GPS receiver applications in a plastic, leadless 6 pin, extremely thin small outline SOT886 package. It has a gain of 16.5 dB gain and a noise figure of 0.8 dB, It has superior linearity performance to suppress interference and noise from co-habitation cellular transmitters while retaining sensitivity. The LNA has been designed using NXP Semiconductors’ advanced 110 GHz fT SiGe:C process. The BGU7005 only requires two external components, one series inductor for input matching and one decoupling capacitor. The BGU7005 contains one RF stage and internal bias that is temperature stabilized. It is also supplied with an enable function allowing it to be controlled by a logic signal. The BGU7005 is ideal for use as GPS LNA in handsets, PDA’s and PND’s. The GPS LNA evaluation board (EVB) see Fig 1. is designed to evaluate the performance of the BGU7005 applied as a GPS LNA. In this document, the application diagram, board layout, bill of materials, and typical results are given, as well as some explanations on GPS related performance parameters like out-of-band input third-order intercept point, gain compression under jamming and noise under jamming. Fig 1. BGU7005 GPS LNA evaluation board UM10380_1 User manual © NXP B.V. 2009. All rights reserved. Rev. 01 — 3 November 2009 3 of 14 UM10380 NXP Semiconductors BGU7005 GPS LNA EVB 2. General description NXP Semiconductors’ BGU7005 GPS low noise amplifier is dedicated for the GPS frequency band. The integrated biasing circuit is temperature stabilized, which maintains a constant current over temperature. It also enables the superior linearity performance of the BGU7005. It is also supplied with an enable function that allows it to be controlled with a logic signal. In disabled mode it only consumes less that 1µA. The output of the BGU7005 is internally matched for 1575.42 MHz whereas only one series inductor at the input is needed to achieve the best RF performance. Both the input and output are AC coupled via an integrated capacitor. Only two external components are required to build a GPS LNA with the following advantages: • Low noise; • High gain; • High linearity under jamming; • Very low package height 0.5mm; • Low current consumption; • Short power settling time; The data sheet of the BGU7005 is available, and it is called “SiGe:C Low Noise Amplifier MMIC for GPS applications” 3. Application Board The BGU7005 GPS LNA evaluation board simplifies the evaluation of the BGU7005 GPS LNA for the GPS application. The evaluation board enables testing of the device performance and requires no additional support circuitry. The board is fully assembled with the BGU7005, including the input series inductor as well as a decoupling capacitor to optimize the performance. The board is supplied with two SMA connectors for input and output connection to RF test equipment. The BGU7005 can operate from a 1.5V to 2.85V single supply and consumes about 5 mA. UM10380_1 User manual © NXP B.V. 2009. All rights reserved. Rev. 01 — 3 November 2009 4 of 14 UM10380 NXP Semiconductors BGU7005 GPS LNA EVB 3.1 Application Circuit The circuit diagram of the evaluation board is shown in Fig 2. With jumper JU1 the enable pin can be controlled to either to Vcc or GND. X3 GND Ven Vcc X4 JU1 C1 5 RF in X1 L1 4 3 BGU7005 RF out 6 X2 1 2 Fig 2. Circuit diagram of the BGU7005 evaluation board 3.2 Board Layout Fig 3. Printed circuit board lay-out of the BGU7005 GPS LNA evaluation board UM10380_1 User manual © NXP B.V. 2009. All rights reserved. Rev. 01 — 3 November 2009 5 of 14 UM10380 NXP Semiconductors BGU7005 GPS LNA EVB 3.3 PCB layout A good PCB layout is an essential part of an RF circuit design. The evaluation board of the BGU7005 can serve as a guideline for laying out a board using the BGU7005. Use controlled impedance lines for all high frequency inputs and outputs. Bypass Vcc with decoupling capacitors, preferably located as close as possible to the device. For long bias lines it may be necessary to add decoupling capacitors along the line further away from the device. Proper grounding of the GND pins is also essential for good RF performance. Either connect the GND pins directly to the ground plane or through vias, or do both. The material that has been used for the evaluation board is FR4 using the stack shown in Fig 4 20um Cu 0.2mm FR4 critical 20um Cu 0.8mm FR4 only for mechanical rigidity of PCB 20um Cu Fig 4. Stack of the PCB material Material supplier is ISOLA DURAVER; εr = 4.6 - 4.9: Tanδ = 0.02 3.4 Bill of materials Table 1 BOM of the BGU7005 GPS LNA EVB v2.1 Designator Description Footprint Value Supplier Name/type Comment Ac BGU7005 1.45x1.1mm PCB v2.1 35x20mm BGU7005 GPS LNA EVB C1 Capacitor 0402 1nF Murata GRM1555 L1 Inductor 0402 5.6nH Murata/LQW15A High Q low Rs Input matching X1,X2 SMA RF connector - - Johnson, End launch SMA X3 DC header - - Molex, PCB header, Right Angle, 1 row, 3 way 90121-0763 X4 JUMPER stage - - Molex, PCB header, Vertical, 1 row, Connect Ven to 3 way 90120-0763 Vcc or separate Ven voltage JU1 Jumper LNA MMIC Decoupling RF input/ RF output 142-0701-841 Bias connector 3.4.1 Series inductor The evaluation board is supplied with Murata LQW15series inductor of 5.6nH. This is a wire wound type of inductor with high quality factor (Q) and low series resistance (Rs). This type of inductor is recommended in order to achieve the best noise performance. High Q inductors from other suppliers can be used. If it is decided to use other low cost inductors with lower Q and higher Rs the noise performance will degrade. UM10380_1 User manual © NXP B.V. 2009. All rights reserved. Rev. 01 — 3 November 2009 6 of 14 UM10380 NXP Semiconductors BGU7005 GPS LNA EVB 4. Required Equipment In order to measure the evaluation board the following is necessary: DC Power Supply up to 30 mA at 1.5 V to 2.85 V; Two RF signal generators capable of generating an RF signal at the operating frequency of 1575.42 MHz, as well as the jammer frequencies 850 MHz, 1713.42 MHz, 1850 MHz and 1851.42 MHz; An RF spectrum analyzer that covers at least the operating frequency of 1575.42 MHz as well as a few of the harmonics, so up to 6 GHz should be sufficient; “Optional” a version with the capability of measuring noise figure is convenient; Amp meter to measure the supply current (optional); A network analyzer for measuring gain, return loss and reverse Isolation; Noise figure analyzer and noise source; Directional coupler; Proper RF cables. 5. Connections and setup The BGU7005 GPS LNA evaluation board is fully assembled and tested. Please follow the steps below for a step-by-step guide to operate the evaluation board and testing the device functions. 1. Connect the DC power supply to the Vcc, and GND terminals. Set the power supply to the desired supply voltage, between 1.5 V and 2.85 V, but never exceed 3.1 V as it might damage the BGU7005. 2. Jumper JU1 is connected between the Vcc terminal of the evaluation board and the Ven pin of the BGU7005. 3. To evaluate the power on settling time ton and the power off settling time toff, it is also possible to use a separate voltage on the Ven , eventually this voltage can be supplied by a pulse generator. In this case jumper JU1 should be removed. The definition of ton is the time from 10 % to 90% of the maximum signal level and for toff the time from 90 % to 10 % of the maximum signal level. 4. Connect the RF signal generator and the spectrum analyzer to the RF input and the RF output of the evaluation board, respectively. Do not turn on the RF output of the Signal generator yet, set it to -40 dBm output power at 1575.42 MHz, set the spectrum analyzer at 1575.42 MHz center frequency and a reference level of 0 dBm. 5. Turn on the DC power supply and it should read approximately 5 mA. 6. Enable the RF output of the generator; the spectrum analyzer displays a tone of around –25 dBm at 1575.42 MHz. 7. Instead of using a signal generator and spectrum analyzer one can also use a network analyzer in order to measure gain as well as in- and output return loss. 8. For noise figure evaluation, either a noise-figure analyzer or a spectrum analyzer with noise option can be used. The use of a 15 dB noise source, like the Agilent 364B is recommended. When measuring the noise figure of the evaluation board, any kind of adaptors, cables etc between the noise source and the evaluation board should be avoided, since this affects the noise performance. UM10380_1 User manual © NXP B.V. 2009. All rights reserved. Rev. 01 — 3 November 2009 7 of 14 UM10380 NXP Semiconductors BGU7005 GPS LNA EVB 9. For noise under jamming conditions, the following is needed. A 15dB ENR noise source, a directional coupler, GPS band pass filter, a noise-figure analyzer or a spectrum analyzer with noise option can be used. See Fig 12 Fig 5. BGU7005 evaluation board including its connections 6. Linearity At the average power levels of –130 dBm that have to be received by a GPS receiver, the system will not have in-band intermodulation problems caused by the GPS-signal itself. Strong out-of-band cell phone TX jammers however can cause linearity problems, and result in third-order intermodulation products in the GPS frequency band. 6.1 Out-of-Band input third-order Intercept point This parameter is being measured by a two-tone measurement where the carriers have been chosen as L1 + 138 MHz and L1 + 276 MHz. Where L1 is the center of the GPS band, 1575.42 MHz. So the two carriers are 1713.42 MHz and 1851.42 MHz that can be seen as two TX jammers in UMTS FDD and GSM1800 cell phone systems. One third-order product (2f1-f2) generated in the LNA due to amplifier third order nonlinearities can fall at the desired 1575.42-MHz frequency as follows. 2f1-f2=2(1713.42 MHz)-1851.42 MHz=1575.42 MHz This third-order product can influence the sensitivity of the GPS receiver drastically. So this third-order intermodulation product needs to be as low as possible, meaning the outof-band intercept point must be as high as possible. Fig 6, Fig 7 and Fig 8 show the O_IIP3 of the BGU7005 at different supply voltages. UM10380_1 User manual © NXP B.V. 2009. All rights reserved. Rev. 01 — 3 November 2009 8 of 14 UM10380 NXP Semiconductors BGU7005 GPS LNA EVB Fig 6. O-IIP3 at Vcc = 1.5 V Fig 7. O-IIP3 at Vcc = 1.8 V Fig 8. O-IIP3 at Vcc = 2.85 V 6.2 In-band 1dB gain compression due to 850 MHz and 1850 MHz jammers As already stated before, signal levels in the GPS frequency band of –130 dBm average will not cause linearity problems in the GPS band itself. This of course is also valid for the 1 dB gain compression in-band. The 1 dB compression point at 1575.42 MHz caused by cell phone TX jammers however is important. Measurements have been carried out using the set-up shown in Fig 9. UM10380_1 User manual © NXP B.V. 2009. All rights reserved. Rev. 01 — 3 November 2009 9 of 14 UM10380 NXP Semiconductors BGU7005 GPS LNA EVB Four port NWA. 3 1 4 2 CAB1 CAB3 CAB2 X3 BGU7005 GPS LNA EVB GND Ven Vcc X4 JU1 C1 5 -20dB RF in Directional coupler L1 4 3 6 BGU7005 1 X1 RF out X2 2 Fig 9. Setup for 1 dB compression with jammers The gain was measured in the GPS frequency band between port 1 and 2, while simultaneously a jammer power signal was swept on port 3. Please note that the drive power of the jammer is 20 dB lower at the input of the DUT caused by the directional coupler. Fig 10 and Fig 11 show the gain compression curves with 850 MHz and 1850 MHz jammers respectively. The analyzer read out for 850 MHz jammer is +9.3 dBm(see Figure 10) taking into account the 20 dB attenuation of the directional coupler means Pi1 dB = –10.7 dBm. For 1850 MHz the read out is +14.42 dBm (see Figure 11) taking into account the 20 dB attenuation of the directional coupler means Pi1 dB = –5.58 dBm. Trc1 S21 dB Mag 1 dB / Ref 16 dB Cal int PCax M 1 -25.00 dBm 16.289 dB • M 2 9.30 dBm 15.286 dB 1 Trc1 S21 dB Mag 1 dB / Ref 16 dB S21 S21 20 20 19 19 18 18 17 17 M1 16 M2 15 14 14 13 13 12 12 Stop 15 dBm Fig 10. 1dB Gain compression 1.575 GHz 850 Mhz jammer M2 Ch1 Arb Channel Base Start -25 dBm Freq 1.575 GHz Stop 15 dBm Fig 11. 1dB Gain compression 1.575 GHz 1850 Mhz jammer UM10380_1 User manual M 1 -25.00 dBm 16.288 dB • M 2 14.42 dBm 15.289 dB 1 M1 16 15 Ch1 Arb Channel Base Start -25 dBm Freq 1.575 GHz Cal int PCax © NXP B.V. 2009. All rights reserved. Rev. 01 — 3 November 2009 10 of 14 UM10380 NXP Semiconductors BGU7005 GPS LNA EVB 7. Noise figure as function of jammer power at 850 MHz and 1850 MHz Noise figure under jamming conditions is a measure of how the LNA behaves when e.g. a GSM TX interfering signal is at the input of the GPS antenna. To measure this behavior the setup shown in Fig 12 is used. The jammer signal is coupled via a directional coupler to the DUT: this is to avoid the jammer signal damaging the noise source. The GPS BPF is needed to avoid driving the second-stage LNA in saturation. X3 BGU7005 GPS LNA EVB GND TX Jammer signal Ven Vcc X4 JU1 GEN 1 C1 5 -20dB RF in Noise Source L1 Directional coupler 4 3 6 BGU7005 1 X1 RF out GPS SAW 2nd stage LNA Noise analyzer X2 2 Fig 12. Noise under jamming measurement setup In Fig 13 and Fig 14, the noise figure as a function of jammer power is given for 850 MHz and 1850 MHz jammer signals. (1) Jammer frequency is 850 MHz (2) Jammer frequency is 1850 MHz Fig 13. NF at 1.575 GHz versus jammer power Fig 14. NF at 1.575 GHz versus jammer power UM10380_1 User manual © NXP B.V. 2009. All rights reserved. Rev. 01 — 3 November 2009 11 of 14 UM10380 NXP Semiconductors BGU7005 GPS LNA EVB 8. Typical evaluation board results Table 2, typical results measured on the Evaluation Boards. Operating Frequency is f=1575.42MHz unless otherwise specified; Temp = 25 °C. Parameter Symbol BGU7005 BGU7005 BGU7005 Unit Supply Voltage Vcc 1.5 1.8 2.85 V Supply Current Icc 4.6 4.7 5.2 mA Noise Figure NF 0.86 0.85 0.86 dB 8.4 10 8.91 16.3 16.4 16.8 14.6 14.2 15.2 [1] 850MHz Power Gain 1575.42MHz Gp 1850MHz dB Input Return Loss RLin 6.9 7 7.6 dB Output Return Loss RLout 15.9 16.45 17 dB Reverse Isolation ISLrev 22.9 23.1 23.6 dB -11.6 -10.6 -10.5 -10.58 -9.37 -7.7 -8.74 -7.6 -6.3 8 8.5 10 1.4 1 0.9 850MHz Input 1dB Gain Compression 1575.42MHz Pi1dB 1850MHz Input third order intercept point IP3i Ton [2] dBm dBm µs Power settling time Toff 1 0.95 0.9 Remarks Measured from 10% to 90% and 90% to 10 % of the max power. [1] The NF and Gain figures are being measured at the SMA connectors of the evaluation board, so the losses of the connectors and the PCB of approximately 0.1dB are not subtracted. [2] Jammers at f1 = f+138 MHz and f2 = f+276 MHz, where f = 1575.42 MHz. UM10380_1 User manual © NXP B.V. 2009. All rights reserved. Rev. 01 — 3 November 2009 12 of 14 UM10380 NXP Semiconductors BGU7005 GPS LNA EVB 9. Legal information 9.1 Definitions Draft — The document is a draft version only. The content is still under internal review and subject to formal approval, which may result in modifications or additions. NXP Semiconductors does not give any representations or warranties as to the accuracy or completeness of information included herein and shall have no liability for the consequences of use of such information. 9.2 Disclaimers General — Information in this document is believed to be accurate and reliable. However, NXP Semiconductors does not give any representations or warranties, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of such information and shall have no liability for the consequences of use of such information. Right to make changes — NXP Semiconductors reserves the right to make changes to information published in this document, including without limitation specifications and product descriptions, at any time and without notice. This document supersedes and replaces all information supplied prior to the publication hereof. Suitability for use — NXP Semiconductors products are not designed, authorized or warranted to be suitable for use in medical, military, aircraft, space or life support equipment, nor in applications where failure or malfunction of a NXP Semiconductors product can reasonably be expected to result in personal injury, death or severe property or environmental damage. NXP Semiconductors accepts no liability for inclusion and/or use of NXP Semiconductors products in such equipment or applications and therefore such inclusion and/or use is for the customer’s own risk. Applications — Applications that are described herein for any of these products are for illustrative purposes only. NXP Semiconductors makes no representation or warranty that such applications will be suitable for the specified use without further testing or modification. Export control — This document as well as the item(s) described herein may be subject to export control regulations. Export might require a prior authorization from national authorities 9.3 Trademarks Notice: All referenced brands, product names, service names and trademarks are property of their respective owners. UM10380_1 User manual © NXP B.V. 2009. All rights reserved. Rev. 01 — 3 November 2009 13 of 14 UM10380 NXP Semiconductors BGU7005 GPS LNA EVB 10. Contents 1. 2. 3. 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.4.1 4. 5. 6. 6.1 6.2 7. 8. 9. 9.1 9.2 9.3 10. Introduction .........................................................3 General description.............................................4 Application Board ...............................................4 Application Circuit..................................................5 Board Layout .........................................................5 PCB layout ............................................................6 Bill of materials ......................................................6 Series inductor ......................................................6 Required Equipment ...........................................7 Connections and setup.......................................7 Linearity ...............................................................8 Out-of-Band input third-order Intercept point .........8 In-band 1dB gain compression due to 850 MHz and 1850 MHz jammers .....................................9 Noise figure as function of jammer power at 850 MHz and 1850 MHz .....................................11 Typical evaluation board results......................12 Legal information ..............................................13 Definitions............................................................13 Disclaimers..........................................................13 Trademarks .........................................................13 Contents.............................................................14 Please be aware that important notices concerning this document and the product(s) described herein, have been included in the section 'Legal information'. © NXP B.V. 2009. All rights reserved. For more information, please visit: http://www.nxp.com For sales office addresses, email to: [email protected] Date of release: 3 November 2009 Document identifier: UM10380_1