An Active IF Balun for a Doubly Balanced Resistive Mixer

In this letter, we present a wideband active intermediate frequency (IF) balun for a doubly balanced resistive mixer implemented using a 0.5 mum GaAs pHEMT process. The 0.3 times 0.5 mm² IF balun was realized through a DC-coupled differential amplifier in order to extend IF frequency of the mixer to DC. The measured amplitude and phase imbalances were less than 1 dB and 5deg, respectively, from DC to 7 GHz. The output third order intercept (OIP3) and P1 dB of the IF balun were 18 dBm and 6 dBm, respectively at 1 GHz. The mixer with the IF balun is 1.7 times 1.8 mm² in size, has a conversion loss of 2 to 8 dB from 8 to 20 GHz RF frequency at a fixed IF of 1 kHz, which proves the mixer operates successfully at an IF frequency close to DC. The measured OIP3 were +10 to +15 dBm over the operating frequency with a DC power consumption of 370 mW.     

A K- to Ka-Band Broadband Doubly Balanced Monolithic Ring Mixer

A broadband doubly balanced monolithic ring mixer with a new intermediate frequency (IF) signal extraction method implemented by 0.15 mum pHEMT process is presented. The hybrid couplers of the proposed mixer consist of multiple coupled lines and fourfold coupled line Marchand baluns. The use of multiple coupled lines leads to a die size less than 1 times 1 mm² and improves the bandwidth of the mixer. The novel fourfold coupled line allows the extraction of the IF signal directly without any extra low pass filter circuits. The mixer exhibited 8-13 dB conversion loss, high radio frequency/local oscillation isolation of 35-50 dB over 16-40 GHz and an input 1-dB compression point of 14 dBm.     

A 51 to 65 GHz Low-Power Bulk-Driven Mixer Using 0.13 $mu$m CMOS Technology

A low-voltage and low-power down-conversion bulk-driven mixer using standard 0.13 $mu$ m CMOS technology is presented in this letter. To work on a low supply voltage and low power consumption applications while maintaining reasonable performance, the bulk-driven technique is selected in this V-band mixer design. The mixer has a conversion gain of $0 pm 1.5$ dB from 51 to 65 GHz with low supply voltage of 1 V and low power consumption of 3 mW. To our knowledge, the MMIC is the highest frequency CMOS bulk-driven mixer to date with good conversion gain and low power consumption among the recently published active mixers around 60 GHz.      

An Ultra-Broadband Doubly Balanced Monolithic Ring Mixer for Ku- to Ka-band Applications

A novel 12-40 GHz ultra-broadband doubly balanced monolithic ring mixer with a small chip size covering the Ku- to Ka-band applications implemented by a 0.15-mum pseudo- morphic high electron-mobility transistor process is presented. The proposed mixer consists of two spiral transformer baluns and a band-reject filter. The use of the spiral baluns leads to the achievement of a chip size less than 0.8 times 0.8 mm². The radio frequency (RF) spiral balun with a band-reject filter served by an L-C resonator is used to improve the bandwidth of the mixer and to provide an output port for the intermediate frequency (IF) extraction as well. The mixer exhibits a 6-12 dB conversion loss, high isolation over 12-40 GHz RF/local oscillation bandwidth, a DC-8 GHz IF bandwidth, and a 1-dB compression power of 14 dBm for both down- and up-converter applications.     

Development of a 385–500 GHz Sideband-Separating Balanced SIS Mixer

A submillimeter (385–500 GHz) low-noise sideband-separating balanced SIS (Superconductor Insulator Superconductor) mixer (Balanced 2SB mixer) with high IRR (Image Rejection Ratio) has been successfully developed, whose SSB (Single SideBand) noise temperature is ～ 200 K (10hf/k) with an image rejection ratio of ≥?～10 dB. Balanced mixers have become a promising technology which would break through the limitation especially in terahertz receivers and heterodyne arrays. However, though there are examples in microwave with relatively worse noise performance, submillimeter and terahertz balanced mixers have rarely been developed in spite of their astronomical importance. The developed balanced 2SB mixer is not only the first one demonstrated at submillimeter frequency range, but also has very low noise, high IRR, wide detectable frequencies (385–500 GHz), and a flat IF output spectrum. The balanced 2SB mixer is composed of three RF hybrids, four DSB (Double SideBand) mixers, two 180° IF hybrids, and an IF quadrature hybrid. Several important performance indicators such as noise temperature, IRR, required LO (Local Oscillator) power, and IF spectra were measured. The measured LO power required for the balanced 2SB mixer was typically ~ 14 dB less than that of the single-ended mixers.     

60 GHz MMIC double balanced Gilbert mixer in mHEMT technology with integrated RF, LO and IF baluns

A 60 GHz MMIC double balanced Gilbert mixer (DBGM) with integrated RF, LO and IF baluns has been designed, fabricated in an mHEMT MMIC technology and characterised with probed measurements. Although a standard mixer topology for integrated circuits in the low gigahertz region, the DBGM has had very little impact in the millimetre-wave range. To the authors' knowledge, the presented DBGM operates at the highest RF frequency ever published for any FET-based Gilbert type mixer, double or single balanced. A measured down conversion gain of 1.5 dB at 60 GHz is obtained with a DC power consumption of 300 mW. Further, IF bandwidth, isolation between the LO, RF and IF ports, 1 dB compression point for the RF input, and LO input power is presented     

A K-band down-conversion mixer with 1.4-GHz bandwidth in 0.13-/spl mu/m CMOS technology

A low power and low voltage down conversion mixer working at K-band is designed and fabricated in a 0.13/spl mu/m CMOS logic process. The mixer down converts RF signals from 19GHz to 2.7GHz intermediate frequency. The mixer achieves a conversion gain of 1dB, a very low single side band noise figure of 9dB and third order intermodulation point of -2dBm, while consuming 6.9mW power from a 1.2V supply. The 3-dB conversion gain bandwidth is 1.4GHz, which is almost 50% of the IF. This mixer with small frequency re-tuning can be used for ultra-wide band radars operating in the 22-29GHz band.     

A Common Source Input Cross Coupled Quad CMOS Mixer*

A CMOS doubly balanced mixer circuit is implemented with a source follower input and a cross coupled mixing quad. The circuit employs an all N-channel configuration and is suitable for high frequency applications. As a down-converter with an RF input of 2.0 GHz and an IF output of 200 MHz, the mixer demonstrates 9 dB of conversion loss with a corresponding input referred third order intercept of 0 dBm. As an up-converter with an IF input frequency of 400 MHz and an RF output of 2.4 GHz, the mixer demonstrates 14 dB of conversion loss.     

基于802.11a协议的无线局域网低噪声放大器和改进的有源双平衡混频器

提出了采用0.18μm CMOS工艺,应用于802.11a协议的无线局域网接受机的低噪声放大器和改进的有源双平衡混频器的一些简单设计概念。通过在5.8 GHz上采用1.8 V供电所得到的仿真结果,低噪声放大器转换电压增益,输入反射系数,输出反射系数以及噪声系数分别为14.8 dB,-20.8 dB,-23.1 dB和1.38 dB。其功率损耗为26.3 mW。设计版图面积为0.9 mm×0.67 mm。混频器的射频频率,本振频率和中频频率分别为5.8 GHz,4.6 GHz和1.2 GHz。在5.8 GHz上,混频器的传输增益,单边带噪声系数（SSB NF）,1 dB压缩点,输入3阶截点（IIP3）以及功率损耗分别为-2.4 dB,12.1 dB,3.68 dBm,12.78 dBm和22.3 mW。设计版图面积为1.4 mm×1.1 mm。     

A 0.5–7.5 GHz Ultra Low-Voltage Low-Power Mixer Using Bulk-Injection Method by 0.18- μm CMOS Technology

A fully differential low-voltage low-power downconversion mixer using a TSMC 0.18-mum CMOS logic process is presented in this letter. The mixer was designed with a four-terminal MOS transistor, the radio-frequency (RF) and local-oscillator signals apply to the gate and bulk of the device, respectively while the intermediate frequency (IF) signals output was from the drain. The mixer features a maximum conversion gain of 5.7dB at 2.4 GHz, an ultra low dc power consumption of 0.48 mW, a noise figure of 15 dB, and an input IP of 5.7 dBm. Moreover, the chip area of the mixer core is only 0.18 times 0.2 mm². The measured 3-dB RF frequency bandwidth is from 0.5 to 7.5 GHz with an IF of 100 MHz, and it is greatly suitable for low-power in wireless communication.     

A millimeter-wave monolithic doubly balanced diode mixer

A broadband miniature doubly balanced diode mixer chip fabricated by Win's 0.15μm pHEMT technology is presented. In order to save chip area, a four-fold modified Marchand balun is used. A coupled line U section improves the port to port isolation and provides the IF-output port. The mixer achieves a low conversion loss of 5.5 to 10.7 dB and high isolation of more than 26 dB over a 26-40 GHz RF/LO bandwidth and a DC-14 GHz IF bandwidth. The mixer's chip size is around 0.96 mm~2.     

Broadband single- and double-balanced resistive HEMT monolithicmixers

A double-balanced (DB) 3-18 GHz and a single-balanced (SB) 2-16 GHz resistive HEMT monolithic mixer have been successfully developed. The DB mixer consists of a AlGaAs/InGaAs HEMT quad, an active LO balun, and two passive baluns for RF and IF. At 16 dBm LO power, this mixer achieves the conversion losses of 7.5-9 dB for 4-13 GHz RF and 7.5-11 dB for 3-18 GHz RF. The SB mixer consists of a pair of AlGaAs/InGaAs HEMT's, an active LO balun, a passive IF balun and a passive RF power divider. At 16 dBm LO power, this mixer achieves the conversion losses of 8-10 dB for 4-15 GHz RF and 8-11 dB for 2-16 GHz RF. The simulated conversion losses of both mixers are very much in agreement with the measured results. Also, the DB mixer achieves a third-order input intercept (IP₃) of +19.5 to +27.5 dBm for a 7-18 GHz RF and 1 GHz IF at a LO drive of 16 dBm while the SB mixer achieves an input IP ₃ of +20 to +28.5 dBm for 2 to 16 GHz RF and 1 GHz IF at a 16 dBm LO power. The bandwidth of the RF and LO frequencies are approximately 6:1 for the DB mixer and 8:1 for the SB mixer. The DB mixer of this work is believed to be the first reported DB resistive HEMT MMIC mixer covering such a broad bandwidth     

基于GaAs肖特基二极管的330GHz接收前端技术研究

基于GaAs肖特基二极管,设计实现了310~330 GHz的接收机前端.接收机采用330 GHz分谐波混频器作为第一级电路,为降低混频器变频损耗,提高接收机灵敏度,分析讨论了反向并联混频二极管空气桥寄生电感和互感,采用去嵌入阻抗计算方法,提取了二极管的射频、本振和中频端口阻抗,实现了混频器的优化设计,提高了变频损耗仿真精度.接收机的165 GHz本振源由×6×2倍频链实现,其中六倍频采用商用有源器件,二倍频则采用GaAs肖特基二极管实现,其被反向串联安装于悬置线上,实现了偶次平衡式倍频,所设计的倍频链在165 GHz处输出约10 dBm的功率,用以驱动330 GHz接收前端混频器.接收机第二级电路采用中频低噪声放大器,以降低系统总的噪声系数.在310~330 GHz范围内,测得接收机噪声系数小于10.5 dB,在325 GHz处测得最小噪声系数为8.5 dB,系统增益为(31±1)dB.     

超低压CMOS混频器比较设计及特性分析

讨论并设计了基于PMOS衬底驱动技术和CMOS准浮栅技术的两种超低压CMOS混频器电路,并对混频器的特性进行了比较分析。在电源电压为O．8V,本征频率和射频频率分别是20MHz、100MHz和1GHz、2,4GHz的输入正弦信号时,衬底驱动混频器的转换增益为-17.95dB和-8．5dB,三阶输入截止点的值为33.2dB和28．4dB;在0．6V的单电源电压下,输入正弦信号分别为频率为20MHz、100MHz和1GHz、2．4GHz时,准浮栅混频器的转换增益为-14．23dB和-21．8dB,三阶输入截止点的值为35．9dB和34．6dB。仿真结果比较显示,衬底驱动混频器具有更高的转换增益,而准浮栅混频器具有更好的频域特性和低压特性。而且它们在频率较低时的性能更好。     

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.     

一款集成驱动放大器的低变频损耗混频器设计

采用0.5μm GaAs工艺设计并制造了一款单片集成驱动放大器的低变频损耗混频器.电路主要包括混频部分、巴伦和驱动放大器3个模块.混频器的射频(RF)、本振(LO)频率为4～7 GHz,中频(IF)带宽为DC～2.5 GHz,芯片变频损耗小于7 dB,本振到射频隔离度大于35 dB,本振到中频隔离度大于27 dB.1 dB压缩点输入功率大于11 dBm,输入三阶交调点大于20 dBm.该混频器单片集成一款驱动放大器,解决了无源混频器要求大本振功率的问题,变频功能由串联二极管环实现,巴伦采用螺旋式结构,在实现超低变频损耗和良好隔离度的同时,保持了较小的芯片面积.整体芯片面积为1.1 mm×1.2 mm.     

Signal generation, control, and frequency conversion AlGaN/GaN HEMT MMICs

We review the design and experimental results of three new AlGaN/GaN high electron-mobility transistor monolithic microwave integrated circuits: a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), a single-pole-double-throw switch (SPDT), and a resistive field-effect transistor mixer. The VCO exhibits frequency range between 8.5-9.5 GHz with maximum output power of 35 dBm (at V/sub ds/=30 V) across a 50-/spl Omega/ load. The L/S band SPDT switch at 0.9, 1.8, and 2.1 GHz was measured to have 0.87-, 0.96-, 1-dB insertion loss and 46-, 42-, and 41-dB isolation, respectively. The switch also shows linear performance for the power levels up to 1 W in the insertion mode. A singly ended X-band resistive mixer has exhibited very low intermodulation, less than -60 dBc for the second and third harmonics of the IF at the RF power level of 10 dBm, and high power handling, P/sub 1 dB/ is estimated to be at least 1 W, with the conversion loss of 17 dB.     

A high-performance W-band uniplanar subharmonic mixer

A uniplanar subharmonic mixer has been implemented in coplanar waveguide (CPW) technology. The circuit is designed to operate at RF frequencies of 92-96 GHz, IF frequencies of 2-4 GHz, and LO frequencies of 45-46 GHz. Total circuit size excluding probe pads and transitions is less than 0.8 mm ×1.5 mm. The measured minimum single-sideband (SSB) conversion loss is 7.0 dB at an RF of 94 GHz, and represents state-of-the-art performance for a planar W-band subharmonic mixer. The mixer is broad-band with a SSB conversion loss of less than 10 dB over the 83-97-GHz measurement band. The measured LO-RF isolation is better than -40 dB for LO frequencies of 45-46 GHz. The double-sideband (DSB) noise temperature measured using the Y-factor method is 725 K at an LO frequency of 45.5 GHz and an IF frequency of 1.4 GHz. The measured data agrees well with the predicted performance using harmonic-balance analysis (HBA). Potential applications are millimeter-wave receivers for smart munition seekers and automotive-collision-avoidance radars     

A 60-GHz uniplanar MMIC 4/spl times/ subharmonic mixer

A uniplanar GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuit /spl times/4 subharmonic mixer (SHM) has been fabricated for 60-GHz-band applications using an antiparallel diode pair in finite ground coplanar (FGC) waveguide technology. This mixer is designed to operate at an RF of 58.5-60.5 GHz, an IF of 1.5-2.5 GHz, and an LO frequency of 14-14.5 GHz. FGC transmission-line structures used in the mixer implementation were fully characterized using full-wave electromagnetic simulations and on-wafer measurements. Of several mixer configurations tested, the best results show a maximum conversion loss of 13.2 dB over the specified frequency range with a minimum local-oscillator power of 3 dBm. The minimum upper sideband conversion loss is 11.3 dB at an RF of 58.5 GHz and an IF of 2.5 GHz. This represents excellent performance for a 4/spl times/ SHM operating at 60 GHz.     

宽中频CMOS下变频器单片

该文介绍了一种工作于毫米波频段的宽中频(IF)下变频器。该下变频器基于无源双平衡的设计架构,片上集成了射频(RF)和本振(LO)巴伦。为了优化无源下变频器的增益、带宽和隔离度性能,电路设计中引入了栅极感性化技术。测试结果表明,该下变频器的中频带宽覆盖0.5～12 GHz。在频率为30 GHz、幅度为4 dBm的LO信号驱动下,电路的变频增益为–8.5～–5.5 dB。当固定IF为0.5 GHz、LO幅度为4 dBm时,变频增益随25～45 GHz的RF信号在–7.9～–5.9 dB范围内变化,波动幅度为2 dB。LO-IF, LO-RF, RF-IF的隔离度测试结果分别优于42, 50, 43 dB。该下变频器芯片采用TSMC 90 nm CMOS工艺设计,芯片面积为0.4 mm²。