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Peregrine Ships the RF Industry’s First Monolithic, 50 Watt Power Limiters

Peregrine’s UltraCMOS PE45140 and PE45450 Power Limiters Deliver Turnkey Protection Against Excessive RF Power and ESD Events in LMRs, Test and Measurement Devices and Wireless-Infrastructure Equipment

TAMPA, Fla. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — June 3, 2014 — IMS 2014 – In Booth #515 Peregrine Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: PSMI), founder of RF SOI (silicon on insulator) and pioneer of advanced RF solutions, announces the availability of UltraCMOS® PE45140 and PE45450 RF power limiters. Peregrine’s power limiters represent the industry’s first turnkey, monolithic solutions to provide an alternative to discrete, PIN-diode limiters based on gallium arsenide (GaAs). Now shipping, these components offer repeatable and reliable protection designed for test-and-measurement, land-mobile-radio (LMR), wireless-infrastructure, military and radar systems.

“Peregrine is excited to deliver the industry’s first monolithic power limiters – UltraCMOS PE45140 and PE45450 – today,” says Kinana Hussain, senior marketing manager at Peregrine. “Because we were able to architect the entire solution onto a single chip, Peregrine’s programmable power limiters offer unique flexibility and unprecedented, robust RF protection to designers of test-and-measurement equipment, LMRs, wireless-infrastructure devices and military and radar systems.”

Peregrine designed the UltraCMOS PE45140 to accommodate the frequency ranges needed in military, LMR and radar applications. Specifically, this power limiter can protect RF front ends and low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) in LMRs; tactical radio receivers from intentional jammers in military warfare; and transceiver (TRX) modules in radiolocation, shipborne and air-traffic-control (ATC) radar systems. Designed for higher frequency ranges, the PE45450 can protect RF ports in test-and-measurement equipment and RF receivers in wireless-infrastructure equipment.

Both power limiters feature:

Peregrine’s programmable power limiters feature two operating modes: power limiting and power reflecting. These modes can be selected through a low current, analog voltage on the control pin (VCTRL). In the power-limiting mode, the device is invisible to the load, and it features very low insertion loss and high linearity. When the incoming RF-signal power exceeds the limiting threshold set through the VCTRL pin, the device limits the input RF power. In the power-reflecting mode, the device reflects most of the incident power back to the source. The power-reflecting mode also uses an external power detector to sample the input RF power and toggle the VCTRL pin from power-limiting to power-reflecting mode for maximum protection. These power limiters also protect RF ports in unpowered or unbiased conditions.

Features, Packaging, Pricing & Availability

Peregrine’s PE45140 and PE45450 feature a wide frequency range from 20 MHz to 2 GHz, and 9 KHz to 6 GHz respectively. Both power limiters feature fast response-and-recovery time of less than 1 nanosecond and protect systems from RF power spikes and surges in harsh environments. The power limiters’ high ESD ratings of up to 8 KV (HBM) protect RF ports from ESD events and enable the devices to operate as ESD clamps. Because PE45140 and PE45450 do not need additional external components, such as DC blocking capacitors, RF choke inductors and bias resistors, these power limiters reduce the overall power-limiting-function footprint and BOM costs. Available now in a compact 12-lead 3x3mm QFN package, PE45140 costs $6.90 each in 10K quantity orders and PE45450 costs $7.80 each in 10K quantity orders. Evaluation kit boards are $130 each.

Visit IMS Booth #515 from June 3-5, 2014, for more information or to talk with a technical expert. Additional information can also be obtained online in the press kit.

                 
Specifications       UltraCMOS PE45140       UltraCMOS PE45450
Frequency       20 MHz to 2 GHz       9 KHz to 6 GHz
Adjustable Limiting Threshold (P1dB)       +22 dBm to +32 dBm       +25 dBm to +35 dBm
Insertion Loss      

• 0.20 dB @ 1 GHz

     

• 0.45 dB @ 2 GHz

       

• 0.60 dB @ 2 GHz

     

• 0.80 dB @ 6 GHz

Return Loss

• 16 dB @ 1 GHz

• 13 dB @ 2 GHz

       

• 10 dB @ 2 GHz

     

• 17 dB @ 6 GHz

Power Handling

• +40 dBm CW

• +40 dBm CW

       

• +47 dBm Pulsed

     

• +47 dBm Pulsed

Linearity (IIP3)       +64 dBm       +70 dBm
Response-and-Recovery time       <1ns       <1ns
ESD Rating       8 KV HBM       8 KV HBM

USE OF FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding our management's future expectations, beliefs, intentions, goals, strategies, plans and prospects. Such statements constitute "forward-looking" statements, which are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The achievement of the matters covered by such forward-looking statements involves risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If any of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if any of the assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results, performance or achievements could be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, our dependence on a limited number of customers for a substantial portion of our revenues; intellectual property risks; intense competition in our industry; our ability to develop and introduce new and enhanced products on a timely basis and achieve market acceptance of those products; consumer acceptance of our customers’ products that incorporate our solutions; our lack of long-term supply contracts and dependence on limited sources of supply; and potential decreases in average selling prices for our products.

For further information regarding risks and uncertainties associated with Peregrine's business, please refer to the filings that we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time, including those set forth in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 28, 2013, which should be read in conjunction with these financial results. These documents are available on the SEC Filings section of the Investor Relations section of our website at http://investors.psemi.com/. Please also note that forward-looking statements represent our management’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements publicly, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, even if new information, becomes available in the future.

ABOUT PEREGRINE SEMICONDUCTOR

Peregrine Semiconductor (NASDAQ: PSMI), founder of RF SOI (silicon on insulator), is a leading fabless provider of high-performance, integrated RF solutions. Since 1988 Peregrine and its founding team have been perfecting UltraCMOS® technology – a patented, advanced form of SOI – to deliver the performance edge needed to solve the RF market’s biggest challenges, such as linearity. With products that deliver best-in-class performance and monolithic integration, Peregrine is the trusted choice for market leaders in automotive, broadband, industrial, Internet of Things, military, mobile devices, smartphones, space, test-and-measurement equipment and wireless infrastructure. Peregrine holds more than 180 filed and pending patents and has shipped more than 2 billion UltraCMOS units. For more information, visit http://www.psemi.com.

The Peregrine Semiconductor name, logo, and UltraCMOS are registered trademarks of Peregrine Semiconductor Corporation in the U.S.A., and other countries. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.


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Peregrine Semiconductor
Elizabeth Brown, 619-993-4648
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