28th November 2006

Peregrine Semi Chosen for European Space Agency RFIC Development

Peregrine Semiconductor Europe has been chosen by the European Space Agency (ESA) to develop the first Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) device for integration into European space applications.

“Our mutual commitment to develop the ultra-high performance rad-hard RFICs for consumption in Europe’s space programs begins with an ultra-low phase noise, low-power Phase Locked-Loop (PLL) frequency synthesizer, designed to enable superior RF performance in European satellite payload applications,” said Ron Reedy, Peregrine’s CTO. “The current Peregrine portfolio of UltraCMOS PLLs has given us a strong foundation upon which we intend to further develop leading-edge RFIC performance for Europe and the world”.

“We are confident that UltraCMOS is the right process technology and Peregrine is the right partner for the satellite commercial market as well as for ESA,” stated Massimo Claudio Comparini, Electronics Technical Officer and Director of Industrial Integration of Alcatel Alenia Space.

“The inherently rad-hard nature of the silicon-on-sapphire substrate makes it highly suitable for space applications requiring performance leadership. We expect to take full advantage of its capabilities through the use of standard components, as well as custom solutions, to boost the competitiveness of our extended family of space products.”
The current Peregrine Integer-N, Fractional-N, and DSM PLL portfolio consists of commercial and space-level devices, with ultra-low phase noise at less than -210dBc/Hz normalized, and exceptional performance: 3.2 GHz operation; serial, parallel and hardwire programming; 6-bit reference counters; integrated 10/11 prescaler; phase detection; and 100krads Total Dose radiation tolerance.

website: https://spacecomponents.org