Renesas offers digitally-controlled intermediate frequency (IF) and radio frequency (RF) variable gain amplifiers (VGA) with FlatNoise™ technology, an innovative technology where noise does not degrade as gain is reduced. The Renesas low-noise devices improve quality-of-service (QoS) and ease the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) requirements of the downstream data converter to reduce system cost.
Some of the Renesas digital voltage gain amplifiers feature patented Glitch-Free technology, eliminating attenuation setting overshoot (glitches) from the transmit and or receive paths by reducing transient “glitches” by up to 95 percent during most significant bit (MSB) transitions. The Renesas IF VGAs and RF VGAs are ideal for receiver and transmitter systems located in cellular base stations and other wireless infrastructure equipment.
About Variable Gain Amplifiers (RF VGA or DVGA)
You can think of a variable gain amplifier for RF systems (RF VGA) as simply combining an amplifier (gain device) and an attenuator in the same package. A device that utilizes digital control is called a digital variable gain amplifier (DVGA). This function is used in either the transmitter or receiver to add an adjustable gain element to the signal chain (either a little gain, or a lot of gain) by increasing or decreasing the attenuation value.
