VCA2618
SBOS254B
9
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OVERVIEW
The VCA2618 is a dual-channel, VGA consisting of three
primary blocks, an Input Buffer, a VCA, and a PGA. All
stages are AC coupled, with the coupling into the PGA stage
being made variable by placing an external capacitor be-
tween the C
P1
and C
P2
pins. This will be discussed further in
the PGA section. By using the internal coupling into the PGA,
the result is a high-pass filter characteristic with cutoff at
approximately 75kHz. The output PGA naturally rolls off at
around 30MHz, making the usable bandwidth of the VCA2618
between 75kHz and 30MHz.
FIGURE 2. Swept Attenuator Characteristic.
0
–25
V
–43
Control Voltage
0
Maximum Attenuation
Minimum Attenuation
3.0V
R
S
Q
1A
A1
B1
B2
V
CM
Input
Output
Q
1B
Q
2A
A2
Q
2B
Q
3A
A3
Q
3B
Q
4A
A4
Q
4B
Q
5A
A5
Q
5B
FIGURE 3. Programmable Attenuator Section.
VCA
Buffer
Buffer
Channel A
Input
VCA
Control
PGA
Channel A
Output
Maximum
Gain
Select
MGS
Analog
Control
VCA
Channel B
Input
PGA
Channel B
Output
FIGURE 1. Simplified Block Diagram of the VCA2618.
INPUT BUFFER
The input buffer is a unity gain amplifier (gain of +1) with a
bandwidth of 100MHz with an input resistance of approxi-
mately 600k
. The input buffer isolates the circuit driving the
VCA2618 inputs from the internal VCA block, which would
present a varying impedance to the input circuitry. To allow
symmetrical operation of the input buffer, the input to the
buffer must be AC coupled through an external capacitor.
The recommended value of the capacitor is 0.01μF. It should
be noted that if the capacitor value were increased, the
power-on time of the VCA2618 would be increased. If a
decrease in the power-on time is needed, the value can be
decreased to no less than 100pF.
VOLTAGE-CONTROLLED ATTENUATOR
The magnitude of the VCA input signal from the input buffer
is reduced by a programmable attenuation factor, set by the
analog VCA Control Voltage (VCA
CNTL
) at pin 24. The maxi-
mum attenuation is programmable by using the three MGS
bits (pins 21, 22, and 23). Figure 2 illustrates this dual-adjust
characteristic.
The MGS bits adjust the overall range of attenuation and
maximum gain while the VCA
CNTL
voltage adjusts the actual
attenuation factor. At any given maximum gain setting, the
analog variable gain characteristic is linear in dB as a
function of the control voltage, and is created as a piecewise
approximation of an ideal dB-linear transfer function. The
VCA control circuitry is common to both channels of the
VCA2618. The range for the VCA
CNTL
input spans from 0V to
3V. Although overdriving the VCA
CNTL
input above the rec-
ommended 3V maximum will not damage the part, this
condition should be avoided.