Maxim MAX5879 RF digital-to-analog converter

Maxim has released the MAX5879 multiNyquist RF digital-to-analog converter that delivers a fully digital software-defined radio transmitter, enabling a common hardware platform for multicarrier, multiband and multistandard base stations.

Working with FPGA-based direct digital synthesis, the DAC architecture shifts the functions of the analog quadrature modulator and agile local oscillator used in current architectures into the digital domain.

This eliminates in-phase and quadrature errors, and LO feedthrough, commonly associated with analog upconversion. The device simplifies RF design and improves reliability for base station transmitters.

Selectable frequency response modes support direct RF synthesis of common 3G/4G cellular bands in multiple Nyquist zones from 700 MHz to 2.8 GHz. A single device serves multiple standards such as multicarrier GSM, WCDMA and LTE without compromising dynamic performance.