A $2\times V_{\rm DD}$-Enabled Mobile-TV RF Front-End With TV-GSM Interoperability in 1-V 90-nm CMOS

Abstract

A 2 × VDD-enabled mobile-TV RF front-end with TV-GSM interoperability is described. It is an on/off-chip codesign employing externally three customized UHF/VHF preselect filters, an RF switch, and a balun. The integrated part includes: 1) a cascode-cascade inverter-based low-noise amplifier that features a high gain-to-power efficiency; 2) a linearized C-2C attenuator using reliably-overdriven MOS switches; 3) an inductive-peaking feedforward path that evens out the passband variation; and 4) two cascode I/Q mixer drivers capable to drive passive mixers with small gain and bandwidth reduction. Gate-drain-source engineering and self-biased structures are the keys enabling performance optimization with low power and no reliability risk. Fabricated in a 90-nm CMOS process with 1-V thin-oxide devices, the RF front-end measures 68-dB rejection at GSM-900 uplink, 0.7-dB passband roll-off, 3.9-dB noise figure, and -5.5-dBm third-order intercept point at a maximum voltage gain of 26.2 dB. The core occupies 0.28 mm2 and draws 15 mW. The achieved power-performance metrics compares favorably with the prior state of the art.