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RF CONNECTORS, RF CABLE ASSEMBLIES AND RF COMPONENTS

RF Isolators and Circulators

Molex’s RF Isolator and RF Circulator product portfolio with drop-in, surface-mount, custom integrations and waveguide categories offers more than 6,000 variants in frequencies from 380 MHz to 40 GHz, and they can be designed to match customer-specified mechanical, electrical and operational parameters.

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Frequency Availability Average Power Available
380 MHz to 40 GHz From 1 to 550W

Features and Benefits

Automation equipment for isolators and circulators is not common. It requires very special customized equipment with significant investment. Molex has invested in the development of high-efficiency, flexible automated manufacturing equipment to produce high-production-volume isolators and circulators.

It is very challenging to meet required specifications such as those pertaining to insertion loss, return loss, power, IMD (passive intermodulation) and temperature stability in a small isolator and circulator package. Combining our experience with our patented technologies, Molex can provide isolators and circulators as small as 6mm while meeting customer requirements.

Power handling is very dependent on the circulator’s mechanical design and ferrite material properties. Using high power increases temperature and, therefore, degrades performance. Molex engineers select raw materials with appropriate properties, including the required operating temperature range.

Low IMD is very important in systems and are not easily achieved in smaller devices. Low IMD usually requires larger isolators and circulators and thicker dimensions. Proper design through the application of Molex expertise, along with optimized selection of materials and dimensions, results in acceptable IMD and harmonics performance with proper frequency bandwidth to meet customer expectations.

New radio designs actively require very wide bandwidth devices in a single radio. Customers would like to combine multiple bands in order to have a more flexible radio system. Using Molex patented technologies, very wide band devices can be achieved in relatively small packages.

Advanced technology solutions for wireless telecommunications

As a leader in RF isolator and RF circulator designs and manufacturing, we supply advanced technology solutions in ferrite components for the wireless telecommunications industry. In fact, Molex provides original ferrite isolator and circulator products designs that are protected by several patents.

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Customized solutions and new product introduction processes

Design time is dependent on the complexity of the request, in most cases typically a few weeks.

After technical approval of qualification samples, production volume shipments can launch within five to six weeks. With our large number of readily available and proven designs, we generally ship in one to two weeks, if only slight modifications are necessary.

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Improve accuracy, efficiency and quality with automation

Molex provides automated manufacturing, which reduces the need for human intervention while increasing accuracy, yielding higher efficiency and improving quality. Additionally, our automation lines are flexible, and their setup can easily be changed to other products.

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Customizations available
Meets the electrical, thermal and mechanical requirements for almost any design

Devices as small as 6mm that meet customer requirements
Enables more devices in smaller areas. In fact, OEMs are already pushing for small sizes.

Acceptable IMD and harmonics performance with proper frequency bandwidth
Offers high-performance isolators/circulators despite small size

Constructed with raw materials having the appropriate properties, including operating temperature range
Delivers high-performing high-power isolators/circulators

As part of mass-production runs, every port in each individual isolator is precisely tuned
• Optimizes electrical performance
• Ensures unit-to-unit consistency

Devices with very wide frequency bands in small packages can be designed via patented technologies
Provides the ability to combine multiple bands in a single radio in new radio designs

Applications by Industry

Antenna Array Systems (AASs)
Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs)
LTE, 4G and 5G Networks
Laboratory Test Applications
RF and Microwave Telecommunications
Radio Access Networks (RANs)
Remote Radio Heads (RRHs)
Small Cells (picocell, femtocell and microcell)

This is not a definitive list of applications for this product. It represents some of the more common uses.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where are RF Isolators and RF Circulators used?
Our RF Isolators and RF Circulators are predominantly used in telecommunications radios. They protect the equipment from reflected RF power, and they are key to helping reduce interference and ensuring system reliability.

How does Molex design and deliver high-performance isolators/circulators?
With more than 300 years of cumulative experience, Molex understands the relationship between the various key parameters. We choose the best balance to obtain the most favorable combination by optimizing these parameters combination to suit customer requirements, such as size, s-parameters, power and IMD.

What are some typical isolator/circulator applications?
Typical isolator/circulator applications include:
• Isolating the transmitter from the receiver
• Isolating receive from transmit, assists matching the amplifier output
• Isolating two stages of amplifier

Specifications

General Features
• Fully RoHS compliant
• Environmental and reliability tested
• No neodymium magnets and BeO-free
• Low intermodulation (< -85 dBc in some models)

Drop-in Versions
• Low insertion loss (0.1 dB in some models)
• Standard or custom, mechanical and/or electrical available upon request

Surface Mount Versions
• PCB interface
• Frequencies up to 40 GHz
• Custom configurations
• Insertion loss <0.2 dB over temperature
• Isolation and return loss >23 dB over temperature

Waveguide Versions
• WR 229 to WR 22 sizes with EIA and IEC standard flanges available
• Frequencies up to 40 GHz
• Customized designs
• Integrated or external load options
• High performance
• High isolation
• Low insertion loss
• Low VSWR