A 0.18μm CMOS gain-switched LNA and mixer with large dynamic range

A 2.4GHz 0.18μm CMOS gain-switched single-end Low Noise Amplifier （LNA） and a passive mixer with no external balun for near-zero-IF （Intermediate Frequency）/RF （Radio Frequency） applications are described. The LNA, fabricated in the 0.18μm 1P6M CMOS technology, adopts a gain-switched technique to increase the linearity and enlarge the dynamic range. The mixer is an IQ-based passive topology. Measurements of the CMOS chip are performed on the FR-4 PCB and the input is matched to 50Ω. Combining LNA and mixer, the front-end measured performances in high gain state are： -15dB of Sll, 18.5dB of voltage gain, 4.6dB of noise figure, 15dBm of IIP3, 85dBm to -10dBm dynamic range. The full circuit drains 6mA from a 1.8V supply.     

Design of Ultra-Low-Voltage RF Frontends With Complementary Current-Reused Architectures

In this paper, ultra-low-voltage circuit techniques are presented for CMOS RF frontends. By employing a complementary current-reused architecture, the RF building blocks including a low-noise amplifier (LNA) and a single-balanced down-conversion mixer can operate at a reduced supply voltage with microwatt power consumption while maintaining reasonable circuit performance at multigigahertz frequencies. Based on the MOSFET model in moderate and weak inversion, theoretical analysis and design considerations of the proposed circuit techniques are described in detail. Using a standard 0.18-mum CMOS process, prototype frontend circuits are implemented at the 5-GHz frequency band for demonstration. From the measurement results, the fully integrated LNA exhibits a gain of 9.2 dB and a noise figure of 4.5 dB at 5 GHz, while the mixer has a conversion gain of 3.2 dB and an IIP₃ of -8 dBm. Operated at a supply voltage of 0.6 V, the power consumptions of the LNA and the mixer are 900 and 792 muW, respectively.     

A 0.18μm CMOS GAIN-SWITCHED LNA AND MIXER WITH LARGE DYNAMIC RANGE

A 2.4GHz 0.18μm CMOS gain-switched single-end Low Noise Amplifier(LNA) and a passive mixer with no external balun for near-zero-IF(Intermediate Frequency)/RF(Radio Frequency) applications are described.The LNA,fabricated in the 0.18μm 1P6M CMOS technology,adopts a gain-switched technique to increase the linearity and enlarge the dynamic range.The mixer is an IQ-based passive topology.Measurements of the CMOS chip are performed on the FR-4 PCB and the input is matched to 50Ω.Combining LNA and mixer,the front...     

A 0.3–3.5 GHz active-feedback low-noise amplifier with linearization design for wideband receivers

LNAs for wideband receivers usually require a high linearity to protect the desired signals from out-band interference. Active feedback LNAs always suffer from the nonlinear feedback of source follower, and present a poor linearity. In order to solve this problem, a complementary source follower (CSF) is proposed, which utilizes the different characteristic of NMOS and PMOS to linearize the source follower, leading to an improvement of LNA’s IIP₃ and IIP₂ by about 10 dBm and 21 dBm respectively. In addition, a post-distortion technique is also used on the common source stage, which further enhances the IIP₃ by about 2 dBm and IIP₂ by 11 dBm. After using the two techniques, the noise figure (NF) does not deteriorate; instead it achieves a 0.3 dB improvement. A prototype is designed in TSMC 0.18 μm CMOS process, and a 14.8 mW power is dissipated from a 1.6 V supply. In typical process corner, across 0.3 to 3.5 GHz, this LNA achieves a 14.6 dB gain, a 2.9 dB minimum NF, and an IIP₂ larger than +22 dBm and IIP₃ larger than +1.2 dBm.     

应用于软件无线电接收机中的无源下变频混频器

设计了一个应用于软件无线电接收机中的宽带无源下变频混频器,采用SMIC 0.13μm RF工艺实现,芯片面积0.42 mm<'2>.测试结果表明:在1.2 V电源电压下消耗了9 mA电流,工作频段0.9～2.2 GHz,电压转换增益17 dB,HP3 6～7 dBm,IIP2 40～42 dBm,DSB NF 17.5...     

A 2.7-V 900-MHz CMOS LNA and mixer

A CMOS low-noise amplifier (LNA) and a mixer for RF front-end applications are described. A current reuse technique is described that increases amplifier transconductance for the LNA and mixer without increasing power dissipation, compared to standard topologies. At 900 MHz, the LNA minimum noise figure (NF) is 1.9 dB, input third-order intercept point (IIP3) is -3.2 dBm and forward gain is 15.6 dB. With a 1-GHz local oscillator (LO) and a 900-MHz RF input, the mixer minimum double sideband noise figure (DSB NF) is 5.8 dB, IIP3 is -4.1 dBm, and power conversion gain is 8.8 dB. The LNA and mixer, respectively, consume 20 mW and 7 mW from a 2.7 V power supply. The active areas of the LNA and mixer are 0.7 mm×0.4 mm and 0.7 mm×0.2 mm, respectively. The prototypes were fabricated in a 0.5-μm CMOS process     

应用于802.11b无线局域网的低噪声高线性度的CMOS射频接收机

实现了一个单片集成、直接转换结构的2.4GHz CMOS接收机.这个正交接收机作为低成本方案应用于802.11b无线局域网系统,所处理的数据传输率为该系统的最大速率--11Mbps.基于系统设计以及低噪声高线性度考虑,设计了低噪声放大器、直接转换混频器、增益可变放大器、低通滤波器、直流失调抵消电路及其他辅助电路.该芯片采用中芯国际0.18μm 1p6m RF CMOS工艺流片.所测的接收机性能如下:噪声系数为4.1dB,高增益设置下低噪声放大器与混频器的输入三阶交调点为-7.5dBm,整个接收机的输入三阶交调点为-14dBm,相邻信道干扰抑制能力在距中心频率30MHz处达到53dBc,输出直流失调电压小于5mV.该接收机采用1.8V电源电压,I,Q两路消耗的总电流为44mA.     

WLAN中带ESD保护的低噪声放大器设计

介绍了一个基于IBM0.18μmCMOS工艺,用于无线局域网(WLAN)IEEE802.11a的带ESD保护电路的低噪声放大器(LNA)。通过分析电感负反馈共源共栅放大器的输入阻抗、增益和噪声系数,以及ESD保护电路对低噪声放大器性能的影响,对该5GHz低噪声放大器进行设计和优化。测试结果表明,当电源电压为1.8V时,消耗电流为6.5mA,增益达到10dB,输入匹配达到-18dB,噪声为4.29dB,线性度IIP3为4dBm。     

An I/Q mixer with an integrated differential quadrature all-pass filter for on-chip quadrature LO signal generation

A down-conversion in-phase/quadrature (I/Q) mixer employing a folded-type topology, integrated with a passive differential quadrature all-pass filter (D-QAF), in order to realize the final down-conversion stage of a 60 GHz receiver architecture is presented in this work. Instead of employing conventional quadrature generation techniques such as a polyphase filter or a frequency divider for the local oscillator (LO) of the mixer, a passive D-QAF structure is employed. Fabricated in a 65 nm CMOS process, the mixer exhibits a voltage gain of 7-8 dB in an intermediate frequency (IF) band ranging from 10 MHz-1.75 GHz. A fixed LO frequency of 12 GHz is used to down-convert a radio frequency (RF) band of 10.25-13.75 GHz. The mixer displays a third order input referred intercept point (IIP₃) ranging from -8.75 to -7.37 dBm for a fixed IF frequency of 10 MHz and a minimum single-sideband noise figure (SSB-NF) of 11.3 dB. The mixer draws a current of 6 mA from a 1.2 V supply voltage dissipating a power of 7.2 mW.     

用于便携式GPS接收机中的5.4mW低噪声高增益CMOS射频前端电路设计

设计了应用于便携式GPS接收机射频前端中的CMOS低噪声放大器和正交混频器.该电路中的低噪声放大器采用带源端电感负反馈的输入级,并引入功耗约束下的噪声和输入同时匹配技术.正交混频器基于吉尔伯特单元.电路采用TSMC 0.18μm RFCMOS工艺实现,总的电压转换增益为35dB,级联噪声系数为2.4dB,输入ldB压缩点为-22dBm,输入匹配良好,输入回损为-22.3dB,在1.8V电压供电下,整个全差分电路功耗为5.4mW.     

A 12-mW wide dynamic range CMOS front-end for a portable GPSreceiver

This paper describes a CMOS low-noise amplifier (LNA) and mixer intended for use in the front-end of a global positioning system (GPS) receiver. The circuits were implemented in a standard 0.35-μm (drawn) CMOS process, with one poly and two metal layers. The LNA has a forward gain (S21) of 17 dB and a noise figure of 3.8 dB. The mixer has a voltage conversion gain of -3.6 dB and a third-order intermodulation intercept point (IP3) of 10 dBm, input referred. The combination draws 12 mW from a 1.5-V supply     

A 1 GHz CMOS RF front-end IC for a direct-conversion wirelessreceiver

An integrated low-noise amplifier and downconversion mixer operating at 1 GHz has been fabricated for the first time in 1 μm CMOS. The overall conversion gain is almost 20 dB, the double-sideband noise figure is 3.2 dB, the IIP3 is +8 dBm, and the circuit takes 9 mA from a 3 V supply. Circuit design methods which exploit the features of CMOS well suited to these functions are in large part responsible for this performance. The front-end is also characterized in several other ways relevant to direct-conversion receivers     

Generating all two-MOS-transistor amplifiers leads to new wide-bandLNAs

This paper presents a methodology that systematically generates all 2-MOS-transistor wide-band amplifiers, assuming that MOSFET is exploited as a voltage-controlled current source. This leads to new circuits. Their gain and noise factor have been compared to well-known wide-band amplifiers. One of the new circuits appears to have a relatively low noise factor, which is also gain independent. Based on this new circuit, a 50-900 MHz variable-gain wide-band LNA has been designed in 0.35-μm CMOS. Measurements show a noise figure between 4.3 and 4.9 dB for gains from 6 to 11 dB. These values are more than 2 dB lower than the noise figure of the wide-band common-gate LNA for the same input matching, power consumption, and voltage gain. IIP2 and IIP3 are better than 23.5 and 14.5 dBm, respectively, while the LNA drains only 1.5 mA at 3.3 V     

A merged CMOS LNA and mixer for a WCDMA receiver

A low-noise amplifier (LNA) and mixer circuit in 0.35-/spl mu/m CMOS operates at 2.1 GHz. Merging the LNA and mixer lowers the number of transistors in the signal path and thereby also the nonlinearity and power consumption. The circuit meets the specifications for a direct conversion wide-band code-division multiple access (WCDMA) receiver. Its noise figure is 3.4 dB (5kHz to 5MHz), the total conversion gain is 23 dB, the third-order input-referred intercept point is -1.5 dBm, and the local oscillator leakage to the antenna is less than -71 dBm. The fully differential circuit takes 8 mA from a 2.7-V supply.     

一个双频带可重构的直接变频接收机射频前端

A dual-band reconfigurable wireless receiver RF front-end is presented, which is based on the directconversion principle and consists of a low noise amplifer （LNA） and a down-converter. By utilizing a compact switchable on-chip symmetrical inductor, the RF front-end could be switched between two operation frequency bands without extra die area cost. This RF front-end has been implemented in the 180 nm CMOS process and the measured results show that the front-end could provide a gain of 25 dB and IIP3 of 6 dBm at 2.2 GHz, and a gain of 18.8 dB and IIP3 of 7.3 dBm at 4.5 GHz. The whole front-end consumes 12 mA current at 1.2 V voltage supply for the LNA and 2.1 mA current at 1.8 V for the mixer, with a die area of 1.2 × 1 mm^2.     

An UTRA/FDD Direct-Downconversion Mixer in 0.25 μm CMOS

In this paper the design of a 2 GHz direct-downconversion mixer for a UTRA/FDD receiver is presented. The mixer is implemented using a standard low-cost 0.25 m, single-poly, six-metal CMOS process. An on-chip passive balun is used to generate a balanced RF input signal. In-house optimized device models are used for both active and passive components to achieve a voltage conversion gain of 12.8 dB, an iIP₂ of 25 dBm, an iIP₃ of –3.1 dBm, and a noise figure of 8 dB. The circuit provides I and Q signal path outputs while drawing 6 mA from a 2.5 V supply.     

A parallel structure for CMOS four-quadrant analog multipliers andits application to a 2-GHz RF downconversion mixer

A parallel structure for a CMOS four-quadrant analog multiplier is proposed and analyzed. By applying differential input signals to a set of combiners, the multiplication function can be implemented. Based on the proposed structure, a low-voltage high-performance CMOS four-quadrant analog multiplier is designed and fabricated by 0.8 μm N-well double-poly-double-metal CMOS technology. Experimental results have shown that, under a single 1.2 V supply voltage, the circuit has 0.89% linearity error and 1.1% total harmonic distortion under the maximum-scale input 500 mV_p-p at both multiplier inputs. The -3 dB bandwidth is 2.2 MHz and the DC current is 2.3 mA. By using the proposed multiplier as a mixer-core and connecting a newly designed output buffer, a CMOS RF downconversion mixer is designed and implemented by 0.5 μm single-poly-double-metal N-well CMOS technology. The experimental results have shown that, under 3 V supply voltage and 2 dBm LO power, the mixer has -1 dB conversion gain, 2.2 GHz input bandwidth, 180 MHz output bandwidth, and 22 dB noise figure. Under the LO frequency 1.9 GHz and the total DC current 21 mA, the third-order input intercept point is +7.5 dBm and the input 1 dB compression point is -9 dBm     

Two-port noise figure optimization of source-degenerated cascode CMOS LNAs

This paper presents a noise figure optimization technique for source-degenerated cascode CMOS LNAs with lossy gate inductors. The optimization technique, based on two-port theory, takes into account second order parasitic components. The effect of inductive source degeneration on LNA noise parameters is discussed. Measured noise figures agree well with the simulations confirming the accuracy of the noise model and allowing us to investigate the contributions of various components to the overall noise figure. A 0.18-μm CMOS LNA with an integrated inductor (Q = 7.5) achieves a noise figure of 1.16 dB and a return loss of 20 dB at 1.4 GHz, drawing 39 mA from a 1.8-V voltage supply, having gain (S ₂₁) of 14.5 dB, input P1dB of ?17.5 dBm, and input IP3 of ?13 dBm. LNAs with external inductors having quality factor of Q = 170 and Q = 40 achieve noise figures of 0.65 dB and 0.68 dB and a return loss of 20 dB at 1.4 GHz, drawing 37 mA from a 1.8-V voltage supply, having gain (S ₂₁) of 17 dB, input P1dB of ?22 dBm, and input IP3 of ?14 dBm. The large power consumption of the presented designs was intentionally selected in order to reduce the noise figure, an acceptable trade-off for LNA’s targeted for radio telescope applications, and to assess the impact of the large currents flowing through interconnect metals on the noise figure     

A dual mode 2.4-GHz CMOS low noise amplifier employing body biasing

This paper presents a dual mode CMOS low noise amplifier (LNA) suitable for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access applications, at 2.4?GHz. The design concept is based on body biasing. An off chip Digital to Analog Converter is used to generate the proper body bias voltage to control the LNA gain and linearity. Measurement results show that in the high gain mode, for V _BS?=?0.3?V, the cascode LNA, implemented in a 0.13???m CMOS standard process, exhibits a 14?dB power gain, a 3.6?dB noise figure (NF) and ?4.6?dBm of third order intercept point (IIP3) for a 4?mA current consumption under 1?V supply. Tuning V _BS to ?0.55?V, switches the LNA into the low gain mode. It achieves 8.6?dB power gain, 6.2?dB NF and 6?dBm IIP3 under a constrained power consumption of 1.7?mW.     

A low voltage CMOS RF front-end for IEEE 802.11b WLAN transceiver

A low voltage CMOS RF front-end for IEEE 802.11b WLAN transceiver is presented. The problems to implement the low voltage design and the on-chip input/output impedance matching are considered, and some improved circuits are presented to overcome the problems. Especially, a single-end input, differential output double balanced mixer with an on-chip bias loop is analyzed in detail to show its advantages over other mixers. The transceiver RF front-end has been implemented in 0.18 um CMOS process, the measured results show that the Rx front-end achieves 5.23 dB noise figure, 12.7 dB power gain (50 ohm load), −18 dBm input 1 dB compression point (ICP) and −7 dBm IIP3, and the Tx front-end could output +2.1 dBm power into 50 ohm load with 23.8 dB power gain. The transceiver RF front-end draws 13.6 mA current from a supply voltage of 1.8 V in receive mode and 27.6 mA current in transmit mode. The transceiver RF front-end could satisfy the performance requirements of IEEE802.11b WLAN standard. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 90407006 and No. 60475018.