The GRF6403 from Guerrilla RF is a Bi-Directional Digital Step Attenuator that operates from 50 MHz to 6 GHz. It provides an attenuation of up to 31.75 dB in 0.25 dB steps through 7-bit control lines. This attenuator utilizes a state-of-the-art SOI (silicon-on-insulator) process, has an insertion loss of 1.3 dB, and a settling time of 165 ns. It requires a DC supply of 3.3/5 V and consumes 230 µA of current. The attenuator is ideal for applications such as 5G wireless infrastructure, cellular repeaters/boosters & DAS systems, automotive cellular and V2X compensators, millimetres wave IF stages, high performance gain trim & AGC loops, and TDD applications where a common DSA is shared for both Tx and Rx modes of operation.
The GRF6403 supports serial, direct parallel, and latched parallel programming modes along with a Rapid-Fire selection pin which allows the device to be immediately switched into a pre-defined attenuation state. This ability to quickly shift into a secondary state allows a single device to be used in TDD applications where different attenuation levels are needed for TX and RX modes of operation. It is available in a 24-pin QFN package that measures 4 x 4 mm.
