industry news
Subscribe Now

STMicroelectronics Unveils the Industry’s Most Flexible and Highest-Performance Integrated Wideband RF Synthesizer

Geneva, September 23, 2014 – As the number of wireless standards and frequency bands grow to support an ever-expanding number of applications, STMicroelectronics is supporting both the demand for higher performance and integration. The introduction of the STW81200 RF synthesizer leverages ST’s BiCMOS (SiGe) manufacturing technology by integrating in one chip wideband voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs), a dual fractional and integer phase-locked-loop (PLL) core, low-noise voltage regulators, plus a set of programmable hardware options to comply with a wide variety of RF requirements.

In applications such as base stations, radio links, satellite, communications, and test and measurement, overall system performance is tightly linked to RF synthesizer phase noise characteristics. These applications demand integration and cost optimization with no compromise in RF performance. In meeting these requirements, the STW81200 as the industry’s most flexible RF synthesizer supports development of multi-band, multi-standard software-defined radios across the wide frequency range of 50MHz to 6GHz, while delivering normalized in-band phase-noise floor of -227 dBc/Hz, a VCO phase noise of -135 dBc/Hz @1MHz offset with a 4.0GHz carrier, and a noise floor of -160 dBc/Hz.

The STW81200 is unique in its ability to be powered from a single unregulated supply at 5V, 3.6V, or 3.0V and tuned in consumption and performance extending the application range from traditional mains-powered infrastructure to battery-powered devices.

As the natural evolution of ST’s successful STW8110x family, the new synthesizer delivers higher performance and greater flexibility by ensuring the same board design can support multiple bands and RF standards (logistic). In addition, higher integration and a reduced Bill-of-Materials deliver greater savings.

The STW81200 robust design is done to comply with RF Infrastructure use cases.

The STW81200 is entering volume ramp-up now. ST is currently sampling evaluation kits of the chip in 6×6 quad flat packs. The STW81200 is priced at $6 for 1,000 unit orders. For further information please visit www.st.com/stw81200

Leave a Reply

featured blogs
Apr 24, 2026
A thought experiment in curiosity, confusion, and cosmic consequences....

featured paper

Quickly and accurately identify inter-domain leakage issues in IC designs

Sponsored by Siemens Digital Industries Software

Power domain leakage is a major IC reliability issue, often missed by traditional tools. This white paper describes challenges of identifying leakage, types of false results, and presents Siemens EDA’s Insight Analyzer. The tool proactively finds true leakage paths, filters out false positives, and helps circuit designers quickly fix risks—enabling more robust, reliable chip designs. With detailed, context-aware analysis, designers save time and improve silicon quality.

Click to read more

featured chalk talk

GaN for Humanoid Robots
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and Infineon
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Eric Persson and Amelia Dalton explore why power is the key driver for efficient and reliable robot movements and how GaN technologies can help motor control solutions be more compact, integrated and efficient. They also investigate the role of field-oriented control in humanoid robotic applications and why the choice of a GaN power transistor can make all the difference in your next humanoid robot project!
Apr 20, 2026
4,007 views