Features
 14.4 – 17.3GHz operation
 Supports 4 dual-pol or 8 single-pol elements
 Two simultaneous and independent beam outputs
 360° phase control with 6-bit resolution
 26dB gain control with 0.45dB step size
 2.3V nominal single supply input
 Standard 1.8V digital logic
 IDAC for external LNA biasing
 Temperature compensation
 Temperature sensor w/ digital readout
 Advanced digital modes with fast beam steering
 On-chip beam-state memory
 3.8  4.6  0.9 mm, 63-FCBGA
Typical Applications
 Phased array antennas
 Ku-Band SATCOM terminals
 Common Data Link (CDL) terminals
 Ku-Band radar
 Aerospace, maritime, and SOTM
 Instrumentation
Description
The F6123 is a 16-channel dual-beam receive active beamforming
RFIC designed for application in Ku/CDL-Band planar phased
array antennas. The IC has eight RF input ports, two RF output
ports, and 16 (8 per beam) phase/amplitude control channels. The
eight input ports of the IC can be driven by eight single-polarized
elements or four dual-polarized elements of an electronically
scanned array (ESA). Each channel has 6 bits of digital phase and
gain control resolution spanning 360° and 26dB of dynamic range,
enabling precise beam pattern and polarization control.
The IC operates from a single supply of 2.1 - 2.5V. When paired
with the Renesas F6923 LNA, it achieves a typical cascaded gain
of 30dB, while minimizing the front end feed loss due to the
flexibility of LNA physical placement near the antenna feeds. The
chip includes power management features such as a low-power
standby mode, independent enable controls on every channel, and
a single-beam mode activated via a dedicated control pin. The
device SPI bus and control pins operate from standard 1.8V logic
at speeds up to 50MHz. Advanced digital modes and large on-chip
memory allow for < 100ns beam position switching times at the
array level, greatly reducing dead time and latency.
Finally, the compact and CTE-matched FCBGA organic package
with all single-ended 50ohm matched RF ports and 0.5mm pitch
greatly simplifies the physical integration of these devices onto
large antenna panels.