A 6–7 GHz, 40 dB receiver RF front-end with 4.5 dB minimum noise figure in 0.13 μm CMOS for IR-UWB applications

Abstract

A wideband receiver RF front-end for IR-UWB applications is implemented in 0.13 μm CMOS technology. Thanks to the direct sub-sampling architecture, there is no mixing process. Both LNA and VGA work at RF frequencies. To optimize noise as well as linearity, a differential common-source LNA with capacitive cross-coupling is used, which only consumes current of 1.8 mA from a 1.2 V power supply. Following LNA, a two-stage current-steering VGA is adopted for gain tuning. To extend the overall bandwidth, a three-stage staggered peaking technique is used. Measurement results show that the proposed receiver front-end achieves a gain tuning range from 5 to 40 dB within 6–7 GHz, a minimum noise figure of 4.5 dB and a largest IIP3 of −11 dBm. The core receiver (without test buffer) consumes 14 mW from a 1.2 V power supply and occupies 0.58 mm2 area.