1. General description
The SA616 is a low-voltage high performance monolithic FM IF system incorporating a
mixer/oscillator, two limiting intermediate frequency amplifiers, quadrature detector,
logarithmic Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), voltage regulator and audio and
RSSI op amps. The SA616 is available in SSOP20 and HVQFN20 packages.
The SA616 was designed for portable communication applications and will function down
to 2.7 V. The RF section is similar to the famous SA615. The audio and RSSI outputs
have amplifiers with access to the feedback path. This enables the designer to adjust the
output levels or add filtering.
2. Features and benefits
Low power consumption: 3.5 mA typical at 3 V
Mixer input to >150 MHz
Mixer conversion power gain of 17 dB at 45 MHz
XTAL oscillator effective to 150 MHz (LC oscillator or external oscillator can be used at
higher frequencies)
102 dB of IF amp/limiter gain
2 MHz IF amp/limiter small signal bandwidth
Temperature compensated logarithmic RSSI with a 80 dB dynamic range
Low external component count; suitable for crystal/ceramic/LC filters
Excellent sensitivity: 0.31 V into 50 matching network for 12 dB SINAD
(Signal-to-Noise-and-Distortion ratio) for 1 kHz tone with RF at 45 MHz and IF at
455 kHz
SA616 meets cellular radio specifications
Audio output internal op amp
RSSI output internal op amp
Internal op amps with rail-to-rail outputs
ESD protection exceeds 2000 V HBM per JESD22-A114 and 1000 V CDM per
JESD22-C101
Latch-up testing is done to JEDEC Standard JESD78 Class II, Level B
3. Applications
Portable cellular radio FM IF
Cordless phones
Wireless systems
RF level meter
SA616
Low-voltage high performance mixer FM IF system
Rev. 5 — 24 July 2012 Product data sheet
