Among the innovative products mmTron introduced last year, the active balun created a new product category. It serves as a bridge between the high-speed digital and microwave worlds, a key element as systems adopt direct RF sampling.

Functionally, the active balun is an interface for high-speed A/D and D/A converters. It preserves the digital converter’s dynamic range by providing low noise, high linearity, and wide bandwidth amplification.

A tutorial on active baluns written by Seyed Tabatabaei, mmTron’s founder, was recently published by 5G Technology World. Seyed discusses the performance requirements driving the designs and choosing the best semiconductor technology for implementation.

mmTron has introduced four initial products in the active balun family. Click on the links below to see the technical specs for each product:

TMC160-16 — Single Channel D/A Converter Interface
TMC161 — Single Channel A/D Converter Interface
TMC180-16 — Dual-Channel D/A Converter Interface
TMC181 — Dual-Channel A/D Converter Interface