Conversion Gain Bandwidth Research Articles

Analysis of a Graphene FET-Based Frequency Doubler for Combined Sensing and Modulation through Compact Model Simulation

The ambipolar conduction property of graphene field-effect transistors (GFETs) and the inherent square-like dependence of the drain current on the gate voltage, enable the development of single-device architectures for analog nonlinear radiofrequency (RF) circuits. The use of GFETs in novel RF component topologies allows leveraging graphene’s attractive thermal and mechanical properties to improve the miniaturization and weight reduction of electronic components. These features are specifically appealing for integrated sensing, modulation, and transmission systems. However, given the innovative nature of emerging graphene-based technology, a complete performance analysis of any novel electronic component is essential for customizing the operating conditions accordingly. This paper presents a comprehensive circuital analysis of a GFET-based frequency doubler, exploiting a compact model for GFET circuit simulation to assess the device’s performance parameters, including power conversion gain bandwidth and saturation. The performed analysis proposes to support the design of GFET-based harmonic transponders, offering integrated sensing and signal manipulation capabilities.

120-GHz Wideband I/Q Receiver Based on Baseband Equalizing Technique

In this study, we examined a 120-GHz wideband I/Q receiver based on a baseband equalizing amplifier using 40-nm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology. For low-power operation, the receiver chipset is integrated based on the direct conversion structure. To achieve high data-rate wireless communication, the receiver utilizes a frequency equalizing technique between the low noise amplifier (LNA)-mixer and baseband amplifier. With the proposed technique, the estimated overall bandwidth is increased as wider as 5 GHz. The 3-dB conversion gain bandwidth is 26 GHz, noise figure (NF) is 10.8 dB, and dc power consumption is 153.4 mW. For the dual-mode operation, the variable gain of the baseband amplifier is applied, and the conversion gain of the proposed receiver is 28.2 dB for the high gain mode and 14.8 dB for the low gain mode. The chip area of the receiver is 1.5 mm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> . The proposed receiver exhibits a maximum data-rate of 12.5, 16, and 16 Gb/s for binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), and 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (16-QAM), respectively.

Design and implementation of a 60–113 GHz down-conversion mixer in 90 nm CMOS

A 60–113 GHz down-conversion mixer in 90 nm CMOS is demonstrated. The mixer adopts an RL core IF load, which is based on the series of a peaking inductor (L) and a parallel combination of the cross-coupled PMOS transistors (CCPT) and the diode-connected NMOS transistors (DCNT), i.e. L-CCPT–DCNT-based core IF load. Conversion gain (CG) can be significantly enhanced due to the increase of load impedance. The bandwidth can be improved due to the inductive peaking effect of the RL core IF load. The mixer consumes 3.2 mW and achieves RF-port input reflection coefficient of − 10 to − 31.2 dB for 82.8–97.2 GHz. The mixer attains CG of 16.8 ± 1.5 dB for 60–113 GHz. The corresponding 3 dB CG bandwidth is 53 GHz. Moreover, for 70–100 GHz, the mixer achieves CG of 17.4–18.3 dB and LO-RF isolation of 39.2–54.4 dB, one of the best CG and LO-RF isolation results ever reported for down-conversion mixers around 77 GHz or 94 GHz. These prominent results indicate that the down-conversion mixer is suitable for 77 GHz automobile radar and 94 GHz imaging radar systems.

W-Band CMOS down-conversion mixer using micromixer-based gain-enhanced technique

ABSTRACTWe demonstrate a W-band down-conversion micromixer for imaging and gesture recognition transceiver. Micromixer-based gain-boosted technique, i.e. inductive-peaking gain-boosted single-to- differential transconductance (gm) stage, is adopted to increase the output impedance and restrain the feedback capacitance Cgd of the gm stage. This leads to the conversion gain (CG), noise figure (NF) and LO-to-RF leakage of the micromixer being significantly improved. The micromixer dissipates 7.2 mW and attains marvellous RF-port return loss of −12.7~ −14.7 dB for 85 ~ 110 GHz. That is, the −10 dB matching bandwidth is wider than 25 GHz. Moreover, for 90 ~ 96 GHz, the micromixer attains CG of 10.5 ~ 12 dB and LO-to-RF isolation of 40.2 ~ 46.2 dB, one of the highest values ever demonstrated for a W-band mixer/micromixer. The 3 dB CG bandwidth is 22 GHz (83 ~ 105 GHz), and the input third-order intercept point (IIP3) is 1 dBm. These results indicate the micromixer is appropriate for W-band imaging and gesture recognition transceivers.

A Compact Highly Efficient High-Power Ka-band SiGe HBT Cascode Frequency Doubler With Four-Way Input Transformer Balun

A compact highly efficient high-power SiGe Ka-band balanced frequency doubler is presented. Using a compact single-footprint four-way transformer input balun, wideband matching, and high fundamental rejection were achieved simultaneously. A cascode topology with very low base impedance termination was utilized for stable operation and high-voltage swing at the output. Two cascode differential pairs form a common-centroid configuration, resulting strong enhancement in output power, power-added efficiency (PAE), fundamental rejection, and robustness to process and supply variation. The proposed Ka-band cascode balanced frequency doubler was implemented in a 0.13- $\mu \text{m}$ SiGe BiCMOS technology. Measured results show 13-dBm output power with 22% peak PAE at 34 GHz for a −1-dBm input power. The 3-dB conversion gain bandwidth is from 25 to 40 GHz, fully covering Ka-band. Peak fundamental suppression is 74.5 dB at 33 GHz, and it is higher than 35 dB over Ka-band. No performance degradation is observed after 24-h RF stress test. To the author’s best knowledge, this paper has the highest efficiency, the highest output power/power density, the highest conversion gain without output buffers, and the higher or comparable fundamental rejection among any Si-based frequency doublers. Therefore, this doubler will be a promising solution for efficient and high-power local oscillator generation in 5G wireless phased-array communication system.

94 GHz down-conversion mixer with gain enhanced Gilbert cell in 90 nm CMOS

A 94 GHz down-conversion mixer for image radar sensors using standard 90 nm CMOS technology is reported. The down-conversion mixer comprises a double-balanced Gilbert cell with an LC-tank-oscillator-based RF transconductance stage load for conversion gain (CG) enhancement and noise figure (NF) suppression, two miniature planar baluns for converting the single RF and LO input signals to differential signals, and an IF amplifier. The mixer consumes 9.5 mW and achieves excellent RF-port input reflection coefficient (S11) of −27.2 dB at 94 GHz, and S11 smaller than −10 dB for frequencies of 83.6–110 GHz. That is, RF-port −10 dB input matching bandwidth is greater than 26.4 GHz. In addition, for frequencies of 75–100 GHz, the mixer achieves CG of 4.9–7.9 dB (the corresponding 3-dB CG bandwidth is greater than 25 GHz), LO–RF isolation of 38.5–44.7 dB and NF of 15.4–21.2 dB, one of the best CG, LO–RF isolation and NF results ever reported for a down-conversion mixer with operation frequency around 94 GHz. Furthermore, the mixer achieves an excellent input third-order intercept point of 2.6 dBm at 94 GHz. These results demonstrate the proposed down-conversion mixer architecture is promising for 94 GHz image radar sensors.

A 90–96 GHz CMOS down-conversion mixer with high conversion gain and excellent LO–RF isolation

A 90–96 GHz down-conversion mixer for 94 GHz image radar sensors using standard 90 nm CMOS technology is reported. RF negative resistance compensation (NRC) technique, i.e. NMOS LC-oscillator-based RF transconductance (GM) stage load, is used to increase the output impedance and suppress the feedback capacitance Cgd of RF GM stage. Hence, conversion gain (CG), noise figure (NF) and LO-RF isolation of the mixer can be enhanced. The mixer consumes 15 mW and achieves excellent RF-port input reflection coefficient of −10∼−36.4 dB for frequencies of 85∼105 GHz. The corresponding −10 dB input matching bandwidth is 20 GHz. In addition, for frequencies of 90∼96 GHz, the mixer achieves CG of 6.3∼9 dB (the corresponding 3-dB CG bandwidth is greater than 6 GHz) and LO-RF isolation of 40∼45.1 dB, one of the best CG and LO-RF isolation results ever reported for a down-conversion mixer with operation frequency around 94 GHz. Furthermore, the mixer achieves an excellent input third-order intercept point (IIP3) of 1 dBm at 94 GHz. These results demonstrate the proposed down-conversion mixer architecture is very promising for 94 GHz image radar sensors.

Design and implementation of a 94 GHz CMOS down-conversion mixer with integrated miniature planar baluns for image radar sensors

A 94 GHz down-conversion mixer for image radar sensors using standard 90 nm CMOS technology is reported. The down-conversion mixer comprises a double-balanced Gilbert cell with peaking inductors between RF transconductance stage and LO switching transistors for conversion gain (CG) enhancement and noise figure suppression, a miniature planar balun for converting the single RF input signals to differential signals, another miniature planar balun for converting the single LO input signals to differential signals, and an IF amplifier. The mixer consumes 22.5 mW and achieves excellent RF-port input reflection coefficient of ź10 to ź35.9 dB for frequencies of 87.6---104.4 GHz, and LO-port input reflection coefficient of ź10 to ź31.9 dB for frequencies of 88.2---110 GHz. In addition, the mixer achieves CG of 4.9---7.9 dB for frequencies of 81.8---105.8 GHz (the corresponding 3-dB CG bandwidth is 24 GHz) and LO---RF isolation of 37.7---47.5 dB for frequencies of 80---110 GHz, one of the best CG and LO---RF isolation results ever reported for a down-conversion mixer with operation frequency around 94 GHz. Furthermore, the mixer achieves an excellent input third-order intercept point of ź3 dBm at 94 GHz. These results demonstrate the proposed down-conversion mixer architecture is promising for 94 GHz image radar sensors.

A high-performance 94 GHz double-balanced up-conversion mixer for imaging radar sensors in 90 nm CMOS

A W-band double-balanced mixer for direct up-conversion using standard 90 nm CMOS technology is reported. The mixer comprises an enhanced double-balanced Gilbert cell with PMOS negative resistance compensation for conversion gain (CG) enhancement and current injection for power consumption reduction and linearity improvement, a Marchand balun for converting the single LO input signal to differential signal, another Marchand balun for converting the differential RF output signal to single signal, and an output buffer amplifier for loading effect suppression, power consumption reduction and CG enhancement. The mixer consumes low power of 6.9 mW and achieves LO-port input reflection coefficient of ?17.8 to ?38.7 dB and RF-port input reflection coefficient of ?16.8 to ?27.9 dB for frequencies of 90---100 GHz. The mixer achieves maximum CG of 3.6 dB at 95 GHz, and CG of 2.1 ± 1.5 dB for frequencies of 91.9---99.4 GHz. That is, the corresponding 3 dB CG bandwidth is 7.5 GHz. In addition, the mixer achieves LO-RF isolation of 36.8 dB at 94 GHz. To the authors' knowledge, the CG, LO-RF isolation and power dissipation results are the best data ever reported for a 94 GHz CMOS/BiCMOS up-conversion mixer.

A High Efficiency E-Band CMOS Frequency Doubler With a Compensated Transformer-Based Balun for Matching Enhancement

This letter presents a broadband high efficiency frequency doubler based on a new and effective compensation technique. A transformer based input balun achieves good balanced performance and input matching by the newly invented central capacitor based compensation technique. It demonstrates a peak conversion gain (CG) of $-$ 2.5 dB and peak efficiency of 9.7% with a saturated output power of 2.5 dBm at 74 GHz. The doubler exhibits a 3 dB CG bandwidth of 28 GHz from 62 to 90 GHz. The fundamental rejection is larger than 20 dB. The doubler is fabricated in a 65 nm CMOS technology with chip area of $0.6\times 0.45 {\rm mm}^{2}$ and consumes 9–14 mW power.

A high gain and high linearity 94 GHz CMOS up-conversion mixer using negative resistance compensation and simplified modified derivative superposition techniques

A 94 GHz double-balanced mixer for direct up-conversion using 90 nm CMOS technology is reported. The mixer adopts an enhanced double-balanced Gilbert cell with PMOS negative resistance compensation for conversion gain (CG) enhancement and simplified modified derivative superposition in the transconductance stage for linearity improvement. In addition, an output buffer amplifier is included for loading effect suppression, CG enhancement and power consumption reduction. The mixer consumes 8.5 mW and achieves LO-port and RF-port input reflection coefficient better than ?10 dB for frequencies of 81.4---110 GHz and 33.8---105.5 GHz, respectively. The mixer achieves maximal CG of 3.6 dB at 97 GHz, and CG of 2.1 ± 1.5 dB for frequencies of 77.5---100.2 GHz. That is, the corresponding 3 dB CG bandwidth is 22.7 GHz. In addition, the mixer achieves LO-RF isolation of 41.3 dB at 94 GHz. To the authors' knowledge, the CG, LO-RF isolation, power dissipation and matching bandwidth results are one of the best data ever reported for a W-band up-conversion mixer.

A Compact Dual-Channel Transceiver for Long-Range Passive Embedded Monitoring

A compact 3-D dual-channel transceiver for passive wireless sensor node design is described herein. The transceiver contains two harmonic repeaters, one to be connected to a sensor and one to provide a reference signal for remote channel calibration and node identification (ID). Each repeater consists of a diode-based frequency doubler and conjugate-matched receive and transmit meandered monopole antennas. The sensing repeater operates by receiving a 2.4-GHz signal and reradiating a modulated 4.8-GHz return signal. The reference and sensing repeaters are optimized for RF input power level ranges from $-{\hbox{30}}$ to $-{\hbox{20 dBm}}$ with zero dc power. The diagonal of the transceiver measures 0.25 $\lambda $ at the fundamental frequency of 2.4 GHz and its measured conversion gain (CG) is $-{\hbox {12.4 dB}}$ with a 2% 3-dB CG bandwidth at $-{\hbox{20-dBm}}$ input power. With this performance, the communication range using an interrogator with a 2-W effective isotropic radiated power is $> {\hbox{40 m}}$ in a free-space environment. To the best of the authors' knowledge, the presented transceiver is the first completely passive design with built-in passive remote channel calibration and ID capability. The performance and size of the proposed design compare well with previously published passive single-channel harmonic repeaters.

A K-band down-conversion mixer with 1.4-GHz bandwidth in 0.13-/spl mu/m CMOS technology

A low power and low voltage down conversion mixer working at K-band is designed and fabricated in a 0.13/spl mu/m CMOS logic process. The mixer down converts RF signals from 19GHz to 2.7GHz intermediate frequency. The mixer achieves a conversion gain of 1dB, a very low single side band noise figure of 9dB and third order intermodulation point of -2dBm, while consuming 6.9mW power from a 1.2V supply. The 3-dB conversion gain bandwidth is 1.4GHz, which is almost 50% of the IF. This mixer with small frequency re-tuning can be used for ultra-wide band radars operating in the 22-29GHz band.

Gain bandwidth and noise characteristics of millimeter-wave YBa2Cu3O7 hot-electron bolometer mixers

Conversion gain bandwidth and noise characteristics are reported for lattice-cooled superconducting YBa2Cu3O7 hot-electron bolometers acting as low-power, wide-bandwidth heterodyne mixers at 75 and 585 GHz. Near 77 K, these mixers show intrinsic conversion gain as high as −16 dB using ∼1 μW of local oscillator power. The measured gain bandwidth is well described by a single Lorentzian with −3 dB frequency of 5–9 GHz. Measurements of output noise combined with conversion gain indicate an optimal input noise temperature of ∼5000 K, significantly lower than calculations predict.

Noise temperature limit of a superconducting hot-electron bolometer mixer

A theoretical analysis for the noise temperature of a low-temperature hot-electron superconducting mixer has been presented. The contribution of both Johnson noise and electron temperature fluctuations has been evaluated. The theoretical limit of the single-side band noise temperature of the device due to the intrinsic noise mechanisms has been estimated to be as low as 20–40 K, depending on the film material. The corresponding noise bandwidth can be as large as 2–3 GHz, for a device with the electron-phonon cooling mechanism. An improvement of the sensitivity is not necessarily followed by a decrease of the mixer conversion gain bandwidth.

Gilbert multiplier as an active mixer with conversion gain bandwidth of up to 17 GHz

A monolithically integrated mixer based on a Gilbert cell multiplier for ultra-broadband applications has been produced in self-aligning 1 μm silicon bipolar technology. Positive power conversion gain bandwidths for RF and LO up to 17.3 GHz and for the intermediate frequency (IF) up to 13 GHz were measured. The corresponding −3dB frequencies are 9 GHz for RF and LO (IF = 100 MHz) and 8 GHz(fLO = 1 GHz) for IF.

A Very Wide-Band Microwave MESFET Mixer Using the Distributed Mixing Principle

A new theory of distributed (traveling-wave) mixing is presented. A closed-form expression for the conversion gain is derived. Subsequently, the expression is reduced to a very simple form when the mixer approaches the ideal lossless case. A simplified nonlinear model of a GaAs MESFET is also described. Design criteria and considerations are presented. The relative contributions made by circuit parasitic to the conversion gain-bandwidth product are also examined. Experimental verification on a two-section design is described. It exhibits around 4 dB of conversion loss over the signal frequency band from 2 GHz to the cutoff at 10 GHz for an IF of 1.5 GHz. Experimental results obtained corroborate the theoretical predictions. Better performance is expected if more sections are employed.