New ICS IF SAW Bandpass Filters Match 3G Protocols

US : Integrated Circuit Systems announced availability of seven new high-performance surface acoustic wave (SAW) products ideal for use as intermediate-frequency (IF) filters for all third-generation (3G) base station equipment protocols. The addition of these devices expands the ICS standard portfolio to 17 SAW filters for 3G infrastructure applications.

ICS now offers a wide range of standard 70- to 350-MHz IF SAW bandpass filters to meet the most stringent performance requirements of 3G infrastructure protocols, including WCDMA/UMTS, CDMA2000, and TD-SCDMA. The ICS filters are available in a variety of bandwidths to match the requirements for single-, two-, and three-carrier systems.

Proprietary ICS software and modeling technology allows the filters to be designed for excellent selectivity while maintaining relatively low loss and extremely flat passband with very low group delay ripple. This provides base station designers with high-end filters that are critical to achieving maximum system performance. For example, the SF0140BA03107S, designed for a two-carrier system, is centered at 140 MHz and has a 10 MHz bandwidth. This filter offers an excellent 35-dB rejection bandwidth of 14 MHz, a low insertion loss of 8 dB, and an ultra-low amplitude ripple of 0.25 dB.

The standard product offering centered at 140 MHz has been expanded to cover nearly any bandwidth required for base station amplifiers, repeaters, and transceivers. ICS has also added new parts at 240 and 350 MHz to provide IF filters suitable for higher-frequency 2-GHz systems. SAW filters for single-carrier 3G-CDMA systems are now available at 69.99, 141, 240, and 350 MHz. Further customization capability is available within this range to provide the exact center frequency required by a base station provider's frequency plan.

The new ICS SAW devices are lead-free and RoHS-compliant, offering designers a highly reliable, consistent, and cost-effective method of filtering IF signals in 3G base station applications. In addition to standard products, ICS also offers custom-designed SAW filters to meet unique system requirements.

Pricing and Availability

All 17 standard SAW filters for 3G base station applications are in production and available now. Pricing starts at $15 in 1,000-piece quantities for the SAW filters in SMP1306 (13.3 x 6.5 mm) packages. For more information on these ICS SAW products, please contact the ICS SAW product division at 800-544-0052 or visit the company's web site at www.icst.com.

About ICS

Integrated Circuit Systems, Inc. is a world leader in the design, development, and marketing of silicon timing devices for communications, networking, computing, and digital multimedia applications. The company is headquartered in Norristown, PA, with key facilities in San Jose, CA; Tempe, AZ; Worcester, MA; and Singapore.