Ultra LNAs with Bypass

An ultra LNA with bypass combines the sub-1 dB noise-figure design of a standard ultra LNA with a switchable bypass path, so the same component can serve a receive chain that has to handle both very weak signals and occasional strong ones. In normal operation the part operates as a low-noise front end, dominating the system NF in the favorable direction. When a strong signal arrives — a co-located transmitter, a near-overhead satellite, or a jammer — the bypass switches the amplifier out, replacing the gain with a small fixed insertion loss to protect the downstream chain from compression and intermod.

Selection follows the same priorities as a standard ultra LNA (NF, gain, IIP3 modest), with the addition of bypass insertion loss and switching speed. The bypass control is typically a single CMOS-level digital pin.

Typical applications include GNSS receivers in mixed-environment deployments (urban canyon, near cellular sites), SatCom ground terminals that have to survive co-located transmitters, and instrumentation receivers with wide input dynamic range. AEC-Q100 grade-2 qualified variants are denoted with a "-W" suffix.

The table below lists the active ultra-LNA-with-bypass portfolio sorted by SKU. Click any SKU for the full data sheet, S-parameters, and reference designs.