Hittite Microwave Corp., a supplier of complete MMIC-based solutions for communication and military markets, has introduced its 23^rd product line, comparators. Six new, high speed comparators deliver up to 20 Gbps speed at 50 percent lower power consumption compared with traditional comparator solutions. A unique combination of 10 GHz input bandwidth, low propagation delay dispersion, low jitter, and high input common-mode range, makes these comparators ideal for medical, industrial, ATE, military & space, high speed instrumentation and communications applications.

The HMC874LC3C, HMC875LC3C and the HMC876LC3C are monolithic, ultra fast clocked comparators that feature high speed latches with programmable hysteresis, and reduced swing PECL, CML and ECL output drivers, respectively. These clocked comparators achieve 20 Gbps operation at 150 mW power consumption while providing 120 ps clock-to data-output delay. Minimum input detectable pulse width is typically 60 ps, and random jitter is specified at only 0.2 ps rms. Common mode input voltage range is specified at ±1.75 V, and typical overdrive and slew rate dispersion are less than 10 ps.

Also released are three new monolithic, 10 GHz comparators that feature level-latched inputs and reduced swing PECL, CML and ECL output drivers, respectively. The HMC674LC3C, HMC675LC3C and the HMC676LC3C comparators support 10 GHz input bandwidth while providing 85 ps propagation delay and 60 ps minimum pulse width with 0.2 ps rms random jitter. With overdrive and slow rate dispersion of 10 ps and power consumption of less than 140 mW, these comparators are ideal for digital receivers, clock and data restoration circuits, and pulse spectroscopy. These devices also feature differential latch control and programmable hysteresis, and they may be configured to operate in either latch mode, or as tracking comparators.

Housed in compact ceramic RoHS compliant 3x3 mm SMT packages and specified for operation from -40° to +85°C, the HMC874LC3C, HMC875LC3C and HMC876LC3C clocked comparators complement the HMC674LC3C, HMC675LC3C and HMC676LC3C level-latched comparators, and are pin-compatible with them.