Session 12 Overview RF building blocks

Abstract

In the past few years, there has been a large interest in wideband reconfigurable receiver architectures and building blocks where several bands or applications can be simultaneously covered with optimum use of hardware. Several examples of software-defined radios (SDRs) have demonstrated such capabilities. Large out-of-band blocker suppression, low-noise and low-distortion capability, and wideband operation remain among the biggest issues. Particularly, low-noise amplifiers, down-conversion mixers, and frequency- generation circuits are among the most interesting RF building blocks that have evolved significantly to address such challenges. Lower power consumption, smaller size, higher integration and a smaller number of external components, along with wider bandwidth are the main driving factors for innovative architectures and circuits. The low cost and high level of integration available in CMOS makes it the most appropriate technology for such challenging designs.