REV. 0
ADG918/ADG919
–9–
APPLICATIONS
The ADG918/ADG919 are ideal solutions for low power, high
frequency applications. The low insertion loss, high isolation
between ports, low distortion, and low current consumption of
these parts make them excellent solutions for many high frequency
switching applications. The most obvious application is in a
transmit/receive block, as shown in the wireless metering block
diagram in Figure 3.
Other applications include switching between high frequency
filters, ASK generator, FSK generator, and antenna diversity
switch in many tuner modules.
Absorptive vs. Reflective
The ADG918 is an absorptive (matched) switch with 50 Ω termi-
nated shunt legs, and the ADG919 is a reflective switch with 0 Ω
terminated shunts to ground. The ADG918 absorptive switch
has a good VSWR on each port, regardless of the switch mode.
An absorptive switch should be used when there is a need for a
good VSWR that is looking into the port but not passing the
through signal to the common port. The ADG918 is therefore
ideal for applications that require minimum reflections back to
the RF source. It also ensures that the maximum power is trans-
ferred to the load.
The ADG919 reflective switch is suitable for applications where
high off port VSWR does not matter and the switch has some
other desired performance feature. It can be used in many appli-
cations, including high speed filter selection. In most cases, an
absorptive switch can be used instead of a reflective switch, but
not vice versa.
Wireless Metering
The ADG918 can be used in wireless metering applications. It
can be used in conjunction with the ADF7020 transceiver IC for
a utility metering transceiver application, providing the required
isolation between the transmit and receive signals.
The SPDT configuration isolates the high frequency receive signal
from the high frequency transmit.
LNA
ANTENNA
TX/RX SWITCH PA
ADG918
Figure 3. Wireless Metering
Tuner Modules
The ADG918 can be used in a tuner module to switch between
the cable TV input and the off-air antenna.
This part is also ideal for use as an antenna diversity switch,
switching different antenna to the tuner.
VGA
ANTENNA
CABLE
ADG918/
ADG919 TUNER
Figure 4. Tuner Modules
Filter Selection
The ADG919 can be used as a 2:1 demultiplex to switch high
frequency signals between different filters and also to multiplex
the signal to the output.
ADG919ADG919 RF1
RF2
RF1
RF2 RFC
RF
OUT
RFIN RFC
Figure 5. Filter Selection
ADG9xx EVALUATION BOARD
The ADG9xx evaluation board allows designers to evaluate the
high performance wideband switches with a minimum of effort.
To prove that these devices meet the user’s requirements, the
user only requires a power supply and a network analyzer along
with the evaluation board. An application note is available with
the evaluation board and gives complete information on operating
the evaluation board.
The RFC port (see Figure 6) is connected through a 50 Ω trans-
mission line to the top left SMA connector J1. RF1 and RF2 are
connected through 50 Ω transmission lines to the top two SMA
connectors J2 and J3, respectively. A through transmission line
connects J4 and J5 and this transmission line is used to estimate
the loss of the PCB over the environmental conditions being
evaluated.
The board is constructed of a 4-layer, FR4 material with a dielec-
tric constant of 4.3 and an overall thickness of 0.062 inches. Two
ground layers with grounded planes provide ground for the RF
transmission lines. The transmission lines were designed using a
coplanar waveguide with ground plane model using a trace width
of 0.052 inches, clearance to ground plane of 0.030 inches,
dielectric thickness of 0.029 inches, and a metal thickness of
0.0014 inches.
Figure 6. ADG9xx Evaluation Board Top View