K-Band CMOS Sub-Harmonic Resistive Mixer With a Miniature Marchand Balun on Lossy Silicon Substrate

A K-band sub-harmonically pumped resistive mixer is demonstrated using standard 0.13 mum CMOS technology. A miniature Marchand Balun is integrated with the resistive mixer to generate equal amplitude and out-of-phase signals for mixer's local oscillation (LO) port directly on the lossy silicon substrate. The sub-harmonic resistive mixer with the integrated Marchand balun has conversion loss of 11-12 dB at f_IF = 100 MHz and P_LO = 7 dBm for RF frequencies from 18 to 26 GHz. The LO-RF and LO-IF isolations are approximately 30 and 33 dB, respectively.     

A CMOS Ku-Band 4x Subharmonic Mixer

In this work, the design and measurement of a new 4x subharmonic mixer circuit is presented using CMOS 0.18 m technology. With an RF input signal at 12.1 GHz, and an LO signal at 3.0 GHz, an intermediate frequency of 100 MHz is produced (f_IF = f_RF - 4f_LO). The mixer uses a modified Gilbert-cell topology with octet-phase LO switching transistors to perform the quadruple subharmonic mixing. Included in the design is an active balun for the RF signal and a circuit that generates an octet-phase LO signals from a differential input. The mixer has a conversion gain of approximately 6 dB, 1-dB compression point of -12 dBm, IIP3 of -2 dBm, and IIP2 of 17 dBm. The circuit also exhibits excellent isolation between its ports (e.g. LO-RF: 71 dB, 4LO-RF: 59 dB).     

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     

2.4/5.7 GHz Dual-Band High Linearity Gilbert Upconverter Utilizing Bias-Offset TCA and LC Current Combiner

A 2.4/5.7 GHz dual-band Gilbert upconversion mixer is demonstrated using 0.35 mum SiGe BiCMOS technology. A bias-offset cross-coupled transconductance amplifier (TCA) is employed in the intermediate frequency port for the linearity improvement. The dual-band LC current combiner and the output shunt-shunt feedback buffer amplifier are in the radio frequency (RF) port. The mechanisms of the high linearity upconverter and the design flow of the dual-band LC current combiner are established in this letter. The dual-band upconverter has conversion gain of 1.5/-0.2 dB, OP_1dB, and of -10.5/-9 dBm, and OIP₃ of 12/13 dBm for IF=100 MHz, RF 2.4/5.7 GHz, respectively.     

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.     

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。     

A 25–75 GHz Broadband Gilbert-Cell Mixer Using 90-nm CMOS Technology

A compact and broadband 25-75-GHz fully integrated double-balance Gilbert-cell mixer using 90-nm standard mixed-signal/radio frequency (RF) CMOS technology is presented in this letter. A broadband matching network, LC ladder, for Gilbert-cell mixer transconductance stage design is introduced to achieve the flatness of conversion gain and good RF port impedance match over broad bandwidth. This Gilbert-cell mixer exhibits 3plusmn2dB measured conversion gain (to 50-Omega load) from 25 to 75GHz with a compact chip size of 0.30mm². The OP_{1 dB} of the mixer is 1dBm and -4dBm at 40 and 60GHz, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this monolithic microwave integrated circuit is the highest frequency CMOS Gilbert-cell mixer to date     

A 5.2-GHz GaInP/GaAs HBT double-quadrature downconverter with polyphase filters for 40-dB image rejection

A 5.2-GHz 11-dB gain, IP/sub 1 dB/=-17 dBm and IIP/sub 3/=-10 dBm double-quadrature Gilbert downconversion mixer with polyphase filters is demonstrated by using GaInP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) technology. The image rejection ratio is better than 40 dB when LO=5.17 GHz and intermediate frequency (IF) is in the range of 15 MHz to 40 MHz. The Gilbert downconverter has four-stage RC-CR IF polyphase filters for image rejection. Polyphase filters are also used to generate local (LO) and radio frequency (RF) quadrature signals around 5 GHz in the double-quadrature downconverter because GaAs has accurate thin film resistors and the low parasitic semi-insulating substrate.     

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 40 GHz single-ended down-conversion mixer in 0.13 /spl mu/m SiGeC BiCMOS HBT

This work presents a single-ended active mixer realized with a 0.13 /spl mu/m BiCMOS SiGeC heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) technology. This mixer is designed to be integrated in a superheterodyne receiver for 40 GHz wireless communication systems. Local oscillator (LO) and RF signals are directly applied to the base of the HBT through two coupled lines. The mixer provides a down-conversion from 42 GHz to 2 GHz. The mixer exhibits a power conversion gain better than 2.4 dB and a measured double-sideband noise figure less than 8.3 dB for P/sub LO/=3 dBm (power of the local oscillator) under a global power consumption lower than 9.5 mW. This architecture exhibits good linearity performance with a measured IP/sub 1dB/ of about -7 dBm and an IIP3 of +4 dBm. The linear dynamic range for a 2 GHz system bandwidth is approximately 65 dB for P/sub LO/=+2 dBm and T/sub 0/=290 K. The third order spurious free dynamic range is calculated to be better than 52 dB.     

Monolithic InGaP-GaAs HBT receiver front-end with 6 mW DC power consumption for 5 GHz band WLAN applications

A very low power consumption (6 mW) 5 GHz band receiver front-end using InGaP-GaAs HBT technology is reported. The receiver front-end is composed of a cascode low noise amplifier followed by a double-balanced mixer with the RF transconductor stage placed above the Gilbert quad for direct-coupled connection. The RF band of this receiver front-end is set to be 5.2 GHz, being downconverted to 1 GHz IF frequency. Input-return-loss (S/sub 11/) in RF port smaller than -12 dB and excellent power-conversion-gain of 35.4 dB are achieved. Input 1 dB compression point (P/sub 1dB/) and input third-order intercept point (IIP3) of -24 and -3 dBm, respectively, are also achieved.     

A Low-Voltage Broadband Feedforward-Linearized BJT Mixer

A low-voltage, feedforward-linearized bipolar mixer realizes an input$hboxIP_3$of$+$14.3 dBm and an input$hboxIP_2$of$+$54.5 dBm at 2.4 GHz. Conversion (power) gain over the 1–6GHz RF input range is 12.4$,pm,$0.35 dB, while the input$hboxIP_3$is 13.6$,pm,$1.8dBm over the same frequency range. The broadband mixer's RF input impedance varies from 60.3-j7.1 at 2.4 GHz to 57.4-j16.6$~Omega$at 5.8GHz. Measured SSB (50$Omega$) noise figure is 18.6 dB at 2.4 GHz. No on-chip inductors are used in the design, and the 0.14$hbox mm^2$(active area) mixer dissipates 7.2 mW from a (minimum) 1.2 V supply.     

Broadband monolithic passive baluns and monolithic double-balancedmixer

The design and fabrication of four broadband monolithic passive baluns including CPW Marchand, multilayer MS Marchand, planar-transformer and broadside-coupled line baluns are presented. Operational frequencies range from 1.5 GHz to 24 GHz. Maximum relative bandwidths in excess of 3:1 are achieved. Simulated performances using full wave electromagnetic analysis are shown to agree with the measured results. Two accurate equivalent circuit models constructed from either electromagnetic simulated or measured S-parameters are developed for the MS Marchand and transformer baluns making the optimization of baluns and circuit design using the baluns much more efficient. The design of monolithic double-balanced diode mixer using two planar-transformer baluns is also presented. Without DC bias, the mixer shows a minimum conversion loss of 6 dB with the RF at 5 GHz and a LO drive of 15 dBm at 4 GHz. The measured input IP₃ of this mixer is better than 15 dBm over the 4 to 5.75 GHz frequency band     

Design and implementation of a 94 GHz CMOS down-conversion mixer with integrated miniature planar baluns for image radar sensors

A 94 GHz down-conversion mixer for image radar sensors using standard 90 nm CMOS technology is reported. The down-conversion mixer comprises a double-balanced Gilbert cell with peaking inductors between RF transconductance stage and LO switching transistors for conversion gain (CG) enhancement and noise figure suppression, a miniature planar balun for converting the single RF input signals to differential signals, another miniature planar balun for converting the single LO input signals to differential signals, and an IF amplifier. The mixer consumes 22.5 mW and achieves excellent RF-port input reflection coefficient of ?10 to ?35.9 dB for frequencies of 87.6–104.4 GHz, and LO-port input reflection coefficient of ?10 to ?31.9 dB for frequencies of 88.2–110 GHz. In addition, the mixer achieves CG of 4.9–7.9 dB for frequencies of 81.8–105.8 GHz (the corresponding 3-dB CG bandwidth is 24 GHz) and LO–RF isolation of 37.7–47.5 dB for frequencies of 80–110 GHz, one of the best CG and LO–RF isolation results ever reported for a down-conversion mixer with operation frequency around 94 GHz. Furthermore, the mixer achieves an excellent input third-order intercept point of ?3 dBm at 94 GHz. These results demonstrate the proposed down-conversion mixer architecture is promising for 94 GHz image radar sensors.     

InAlAs/InGaAs HBT X-band double-balanced upconverter

We report on an InAlAs/InGaAs HBT Gilbert cell double-balanced mixer which upconverts a 3 GHz IF signal to an RF frequency of 5-12 GHz. The mixer cell achieves a conversion loss of between 0.8 dB and 2.6 dB from 5 to 12 GHz. The LO-RF and IF-RF isolations are better than 30 dB at an LO drive of +5 dBm across the RF band. A pre-distortion circuit is used to increase the linear input power range of the LO port to above +5 dBm. Discrete amplifiers designed for the IF and RF frequency ports make up the complete upconverter architecture which achieves a conversion gain of 40 dB for an RF output bandwidth of 10 GHz. The upconverter chip set fabricated with InAlAs/InGaAs HBT's demonstrates the widest gain-bandwidth performance of a Gilbert cell based upconverter compared to previous GaAs and InP HBT or Si-bipolar IC's     

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     

A subharmonic self-oscillating mixer with integrated antenna for60-GHz wireless applications

A balanced integrated-antenna self-oscillating mixer at 60 GHz is presented in this paper. The modal radiation characteristics of a dual-feed planar quasi-Yagi antenna are used to achieve RF-local oscillator (RF-LO) isolation between closely spaced frequencies. The balanced mixer is symmetric, inherently broad band, and does not need an RF balun. Pseudomorphic high electron-mobility transistors are used in a 30-GHz push-pull circuit to generate the second harmonic and a 30-GHz dielectric resonator was used to stabilize the fundamental oscillation frequency. This allows the possibility of building a balanced low-cost self-contained antenna integrated receiver with low LO leakage for short-range narrow-band communication. Phase locking can be done with half of the RF frequency. The circuit exhibits a conversion loss less than 15 dB from 60 to 61.5 GHz, radiation leakage of -26 dBm at 60 GHz, and IF phase noise of -95 dBc/Hz at 100-kHz offset     

A Single Transistor‐Level Direct‐Conversion Mixer for Low‐Voltage Low‐Power Multi‐band Radios

A CMOS direct‐conversion mixer with a single transistor‐level topology is proposed in this paper. Since the single transistor‐level topology needs smaller supply voltage than the conventional Gilbert‐cell topology, the proposed mixer structure is suitable for a low power and highly integrated RF system‐on‐a‐chip (SoC). The proposed direct‐conversion mixer is designed for the multi‐band ultra‐wideband (UWB) system covering from 3 to 7 GHz. The conversion gain and input P1dB of the mixer are about 3 dB and ?10 dBm, respectively, with multi‐band RF signals. The mixer consumes 4.3 mA under a 1.8 V supply voltage.     

26-34 GHz CMOS mixer

A 26-34 GHz fully integrated CMOS down mixer is presented. At 30 GHz RF frequency and 2.5 GHz IF frequency, 50 /spl Omega/ terminations, 5 dBm LO and 1.2 V/spl times/17 mA supply power, the circuit yields a conversion loss of 2.6 dB, an SSB NF of 13.5 dB and an IIP3 of 0.5 dBm.     

60 GHz double-balanced up-conversion mixer on 130 nm CMOS technology

A millimetre-wave Gilbert-cell up-conversion mixer using standard 130 nm CMOS technology is presented. This mixer has a power conversion gain of better than 2 dB and has the highest reported OP 1 dB of -5.6 dBm when driven with a LO power of 0 dBm. The LO to RF isolation are better than 37 dB for LO from 57 to 65 GHz. Microstrip lines were employed for the matching network design at the mixer output. This is believed to be the first CMOS Gilbert-cell up-conversion mixer operating in the 60 GHz frequency band using fundamental LO.