Low power and high conversion gain 21‐GHz receiver front end in a standard 0.18 μm CMOS technology

Abstract

AbstractThis article describes a monolithic receiver front end comprising a low‐noise amplifier (LNA), a mixer, an intermediate‐frequency (IF) amplifier, and an IF filter implemented in a standard 0.18 μm CMOS technology.Current‐reused technique is used in the LNA to reduce power dissipation. Current bleeding technique is used in the mixer to improve conversion gain and power linearity. To enhance RF–IF and LO–IF isolation, an RC low‐pass filter (i.e., IF filter) is added in the drain terminal of the input transistor of the cascode IF amplifier. At an RF of 21 GHz and IF of 2.4 GHz, the receiver front end dissipated 43.2 mW and exhibited a noise figure (NF) of 8.6 dB, and a conversion gain of 20.3 dB. In addition, excellent isolation was also achieved. The measured LO–IF and LO‐RF isolation is −30.9 dB and −51.1 dB, respectively, at LOin of −1 dBm. The measured RF–IF isolation is −57.3 dB at RFin of −30 dBm. The chip area is only 0.97 × 0.9 mm2, that is, 0.873 mm2, excluding the test pads. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:2875–2879, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26423