A 24-GHz CMOS Front-End

Abstract

This paper reports the first 24-GHz CMOS front-end in a 0.18-/spl mu/m process. It consists of a low-noise amplifier (LNA) and a mixer and downconverts an RF input at 24 GHz to an IF of 5 GHz. It has a power gain of 27.5 dB and an overall noise figure of 7.7 dB with an input return loss, S/sub 11/ of -21 dB consuming 20 mA from a 1.5-V supply. The LNA achieves a power gain of 15 dB and a noise figure of 6 dB on 16 mA of dc current. The LNA's input stage utilizes a common-gate with resistive feedthrough topology. The performance analysis of this topology predicts the experimental results with good accuracy.