The PE43713 from Peregrine Semiconductor is a glitch-less digital step attenuator that operates from 9 kHZ to 6 GHz. This DSA has been designed for test-and-measurement (T&M) applications. The attenuator has an attenuation range from 0 dB to 31.75 dB with a 1 dB step resolution and can handle up to 23 dBm of power. It has an insertion loss under 2.8 dB and maintains 0.25 dB monotonicity through 4 GHz, 0.5 dB monotonicity through 5 GHz and 1 dB monotonicity through 6 GHz. It is available in 32-lead QFN package and measures 5 x 5 mm.
When switching attenuation states with a DSA, there is a brief or transient spike in output power. This glitch, if left alone, could lead to degraded signal quality and possible damage to power amplifier sub-assemblies. To minimize this glitch, engineers deploy a software or firmware workaround that reduces the effect of this transient spike. With Peregrine new glitch-less DSAs, this output power glitch is significantly reduced to less than 0.3 dB, enabling customers to decrease their engineering overhead and prevent damage to expensive sub-assemblies.
