Aims to reduce design complexity in defence, aerospace and communications systems by eliminating negative voltage rails while maintaining high-speed switching, wideband performance and strong signal integrity.
A new family of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) RF control components from Qorvo targets one of the persistent challenges in high-frequency system design: the need for negative-bias circuitry. The portfolio combines RF switches and digital step attenuators into a unified platform that simplifies signal routing and control architectures across defence, aerospace, SATCOM and electronic warfare applications.
The key features are:
- Eliminates the need for negative-voltage bias rails via TTL-compatible control.
- Supports RF switching and attenuation functions up to 30 GHz.
- Delivers high isolation, low insertion loss and high linearity.
- Enables fast switching speeds of less than 50 ns in selected devices.
- Reduces BOM count, routing complexity and board space requirements.
The latest devices are designed to help engineers reduce board-level complexity by eliminating the need for negative-voltage rails typically associated with legacy gallium arsenide (GaAs)-based RF control solutions. By enabling direct TTL-compatible control, the new approach streamlines biasing networks, lowers component counts and frees up board space without compromising RF performance.
The portfolio includes reflective SPDT switches operating up to 15 GHz and 30 GHz, an SP8T switch supporting frequencies up to 8 GHz, and 6-bit digital step attenuators covering frequencies up to 30 GHz. These devices are aimed at applications requiring fast switching, high isolation and strong linearity, including radar systems, secure communications, filter banks and electronic warfare platforms.
A key focus of the platform is consolidation. Instead of relying on multiple narrowband RF components or mixed-vendor control chains, designers can standardise switching and attenuation functions using a common architecture. This reduces routing complexity, minimises calibration efforts and enables easier design reuse across multiple programs and system generations.
The launch reflects growing demand for broader frequency coverage and more agile RF signal routing as modern defence and aerospace systems become increasingly software-defined and multi-band. By combining wideband coverage with simplified integration, the new SOI-based solutions seek to shorten development cycles while preserving the high-performance characteristics required in mission-critical environments.
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