December 03, 2004 Demo Circuit DC807A Quick Start Guide. Introduction Demo circuit DC807A demonstrates operation of the LT5524 IC, a DC-600MHz bandwidth ‘open loop’ transconductance amplifier with high impedance ‘open collector’ outputs. Four programmable gain inputs provide a variable attenuation of up to 22.5 dB (relative to maximum gain) with 1.5 dB steps. LT5524 Attenuator Amp Gain control logic Enable control Figure 1. LT5524 Block Diagram DEMO BOARD CONFIGURATIONS DEMO BOARD RF INPUT: TYPE RF Input: A SINGLE ENDED B DIFFERENTIAL DC807A Demo Board Quick Start Guide Input Impedance 50 ohms 100 ohms Differential 1dB Freq. Range Notes 3 – 300 MHz (Limited by RF input transformer) .1 – 600 MHz 1:2 RF Input Transformer Capacitive Coupled 1 Type A Input LT5524 Input RF Transformer Variable Attenuator Amp Gain control logic Enable control Type B Input LT5524 C Variable Attenuator Amp C Gain control logic DEMO BOARD RF OUTPUT: TYPE RF Output: A DIFFERENTIAL B SINGLE ENDED DC807A Demo Board Quick Start Guide Output Impedance 100 ohms Differential 50 ohms Single Ended Enable control 1dB Freq. Range .1 – 600 MHz Max Gain 24dB 10 – 200 MHz 24dB (Limited by RF output transformer ) Notes Capacitive Coupled 4:1 RF Output Transformer 2 Vcc Type A Output 50 ohm 50 ohm LT5524 C Variable Attenuator Amp C Gain control logic Enable control Type B Output Vcc LT5524 Variable Attenuator RF Output Transformer Amp 255 ohm Gain control logic Enable control NOTE: LT5524 Demo circuits have been provided with Type A input configuration and with Type B output configuration, (RF transformers at input & output ports). DC807A Demo Board Quick Start Guide 3 LT5524 Amp A Vcc Input RF Transformer Variable Attenuator Gain control logic RF Output Transformer Amp B Enable control R7 255 ohm Figure 2. Block Diagram of the DC807A Demo Circuit with Type A Input and with Type B Output Configuration. Please refer to the next page for actual electrical schematic of the LT5524 IC demo board DC807A with a Type A input and with a Type B output. Please note C2, C3, C7, C8, C11, C12 are not placed on PCB, as well as some Vcc bypass capacitors and D1 Zener diode. Also enclosed, as a separate document, a complete demo board schematic and parts list, which support all possible configurations and modifications for the demo board. Please note that with R7 (255 ohm, differential output shunt resistor), the circuit provides the best output return loss. For the best IM3 performance this resistor should be removed, resulting in about 3 dB IP3 improvements. This will also result in a small degradation of the return loss. DC807A Demo Board Quick Start Guide 4 DC807A Demo Board Quick Start Guide 5 Demo Circuit Settings (refer to demo board schematic): Table 1. Modes of Operation Modes 1 Full Power 2 Shutdown EN HIGH LOW LT5524 State Amplifier enabled Sleep, amplifier disabled Note: Enable input EN can be controlled externally using turret pins EN located at the top of the demo board. HIGH logic level is provided to Enable input by default (because of the pull-up resistor on the control line). Table 2. Gain Programming Table ATTENUATION PGA0 Relative to MAX GAIN 1 0 dB HIGH 2 -1.5 dB LOW 3 -3.0 dB HIGH 4 -4.5 dB LOW 5 -6.0 dB HIGH 6 -7.5 dB LOW 7 -9.0 dB HIGH 8 -10.5 dB LOW 9 -12.0 dB HIGH 10 -13.5 dB LOW 11 -15.0 dB HIGH 12 -16.5 dB LOW 13 -18.0 dB HIGH 14 -19.5 dB LOW 15 -21.0 dB HIGH 16 -22.5 dB LOW PGA1 PGA2 PGA3 HIGH HIGH LOW LOW HIGH HIGH LOW LOW HIGH HIGH LOW LOW HIGH HIGH LOW LOW HIGH HIGH HIGH HIGH LOW LOW LOW LOW HIGH HIGH HIGH HIGH LOW LOW LOW LOW HIGH HIGH HIGH HIGH HIGH HIGH HIGH HIGH LOW LOW LOW LOW LOW LOW LOW LOW Note: Gain control lines PGA0, PGA1, PGA2 and PGA3 can be controlled externally using pins PGA0, PGA1, PGA2 and PGA3 located at the bottom of the demo board. HIGH logic levels are provided to all four gain control inputs by default (pull-up resistors on the control inputs). DC807A Demo Board Quick Start Guide 6 LPF Signal Generator #1 2-way Combiner LPF Signal Generator #2 Power Supply GND ENA VCC VCCO GND Spectrum Analyzer LT5524EFE J1 J2 J3 J4 GND PGA0 PGA1 PGA2 PGA3 GND Figure 3. Test & Measurement Setup for Single Ended Input & Single Ended Output Demo Circuit. DC Power Consumption Measurements: Connect test equipment and power supply to the demo board as shown in Figure 3. Set power supply to +5.0V. NOTE: For a demo board with a type “A” output (with 50 ohm pull-up resistors) a separate 7.5V power supply should be connected to Vcco for measurements with output signal swing of 2.0V peak to peak or higher. This will result in 5.0VDC at the output (open collector) pins, because of the voltage drop across the 50 ohm output pull-up resistors. Shutdown Mode: Set EN to Logic LOW state. Measure VCC and VCCO shutdown current. NOTE: Shutdown current should be 0.5 to 1mA due to external 10k ohm pull-up resistor. Set EN to Logic HIGH state. Operation Mode: Measure VCC and VCCO operating current. Gain, Frequency Response and OIP3 Measurements: 1) Connect test equipment and power supply to the demo board as shown in Figure 3. DC807A Demo Board Quick Start Guide 7 2) Set EN to Logic HIGH state (Refer to Table 1 and Table 2). The IC is in Standard Operation Mode (amplifier is ON) and the amplifier has maximum gain. 3) Perform single CW tone frequency sweep (100 KHz to 600 MHz) and measure gain and frequency response. NOTE: For a demo board with a type “A” output (with 50 ohm pull-up resistors) external 180o combiner should be used. Measurements can be also done using one output. In this case the other output should be terminated externally. One-output measurements have no common mode rejection and will show higher output noise. 4) Apply two input CW tones and perform two-tone output IM3 product measurements at different output power levels from -23 dBm to 0 dBm per each tone, referred to the input of the demo board and depending on desired attenuation settings. NOTE: For a demo board with a type “A” output (with 50 ohm pull-up resistors) an external 180o combiner should be used. Single output measurements will show an elevated noise floor. For single output measurements, the second output should be terminated externally with 50 ohm load. Two Tone Measurements (refer to “LT5514 linearity measurements” document): 1. High quality signal generators (with low level of output harmonics and reverse power protection) should be used. Low pass filters should be employed at the signal generator outputs to minimize higher order harmonics to –90 dBc or better. Attenuator pads at the signal generator outputs will also help to minimize reverse power problems. 2. A high sensitivity/high dynamic range spectrum analyzer should be used. Care must be taken to operate the spectrum analyzer in linear mode to avoid additional IM distortion products produced by the instrument itself. It is advisable to use a narrow bandpass filter at the spectrum analyzer input to select IM products and attenuate main tones. In this case, a 10 to 20 dB attenuator should be placed between the LT5524 output and the BPF input to provide broadband matching. Additional application notes (refer to the complete demo circuit schematic): • In a type “B” output (demo circuit with output RF transformer), resistor R7 is 255 ohm. This provides the best output return loss. For best IM performance this resistor should be removed. This will result in a 5dB IM3 performance improvement. • R19 is a zero ohm jumper. R19 can be removed if differential output is desired. • Output transformer T2 can be removed and pull-up resistors (50 ohm) can be placed at R20 and R21 locations at the topside of the demo board. Also, pull-up inductors (820 nH) can be placed at R20 and R21 locations as well. This will result in higher output impedance. For proper impedance matching 50 ohm resistors can be connected in parallel with pull-up inductors. Coupling capacitors (not shown on the demo board schematic) can be placed instead of the output transformer T2, connecting output pins 15 and 16 to the output SMA connectors J2 and J4. DC807A Demo Board Quick Start Guide 8 DC807A Demo Board Quick Start Guide 9