AD8347
100pF
LO
200⍀
100pF
LOIN
AD8347
LOIP
Figure 5. Single-Ended LO Drive
Operating the VGA
A three-stage VGA sets the gain in the RF section. Two of the
three stages come before the mixer while the third amplifies the
mixer output. All three stages are driven in parallel. The gain
range of the first RF VGA and that of the second RF VGA
combined with the mixer are both –13 dB to +10 dB. The
gain range of the baseband VGA is –4 dB to +19.5 dB. So the
overall gain range from the RF input to the IMXO/QMXO pins
is –30 dB to approximately +39.5 dB.
The gain of the VGA is set by the voltage on the VGIN pin,
which is a high impedance input. The gain control function
(which is linear-in-dB) and linearity are shown in TPC 1 and
TPC 2 at 1.9 GHz. Note that the sense of the gain control
voltage is negative so as the gain control voltage ranges from 0.2 V
to 1.2 V, the gain decreases from +39.5 dB to –30 dB.
Mixer Output Level and Drive Capability
I & Q channel baseband outputs, IMXO and QMXO are low
impedance outputs (ROUT @ 3 Ω) whose bias level is equal to
VVREF, the voltage on Pin 14. The achievable output level on
IMXO/QMXO is limited by their current drive capability of
1.5 mA max. This would allow for a 600 mV p-p swing into a
200 Ω load. At lower output levels, IMXO and QMXO can
drive smaller load resistances, subject to the same current limit.
These output stages are not, however, designed to drive 50 Ω
loads directly.
Operating the VGA in AGC Mode
While the VGA can be driven by an external source such as a
DAC, the AD8347 has an on-board sum of squares detector
which allows the AD8347 to operate in an automatic leveling
mode. The connections for operating in this mode are shown in
Figure 4. The two mixer outputs are connected to the detector
inputs VDT1 and VDT2. The summed detector output drives
an internal integrator which in turn delivers a gain correction
voltage to the VAGC pin. A 0.1 µF capacitor from VAGC to
ground sets the dominant pole of the integrator circuit. VAGC,
which should be connected to VGIN, adjusts gain until an
internal threshold is reached. This threshold corresponds to a level
at the IMXO/QMXO pins of approximately 8.5 mV rms. This
level will change slightly as a function of RF input power (see
TPC 30). For a CW (sine wave) input this corresponds to
+VS +5V
C6 C5 C7 C8 C9 C10
0.1F 100pF 0.1F 100pF 0.1F 100pF
R19
1k⍀
R20
4k⍀
120mV p-p
1V BIAS
C13
0.1F
2.5V
IOPP
3.8V p-p
DIFFERENTIAL
VCM = 2.5V
VPS1
VPS2
VPS3 VREF
IMXO
IOFS IAIN
IOPP
IOPN
C1
100pF
R1
200⍀
C2
100pF
RF
INPUT
ENBL
RFIN
RFIP
VGIN
AD8347
BIAS
CELL
VREF
GAIN
CONTROL
INTERFACE
DET 1
DET 2
VDT1 VAGC VDT2 QMXO
R21
4k⍀
R22
1k⍀
VREF
IOPN
VCMO
PHASE
SPLITTER
2
VREF
QOFS
C14
0.1F
120mV p-p
1V BIAS
QAIN
VCMO
PHASE
SPLITTER
1
VCMO
LOIN
LOIP
COM3
COM2
COM3
COM1
QOPP QOPN
C4
100pF
LO INPUT
–8dBm
0.8GHz–2.7GHz
R17
200⍀
34
15
T1
C3 ETC 1-1-13
100pF (M/A-COM)
QOPN
3.8V p-p
DIFFERENTIAL
VCM = 2.5V
QOPP
Figure 6. Adjusting AGC Level to Increase Baseband Amplifier Output Swing
REV. 0
–15–