Sub-harmonic Down-conversion Mixer Research Articles

A V-Band High Gain Sub-Harmonic Down-Conversion Mixer Using PMOS Cross Couple Pair to Implement Negative Impedance and Current-Bleeding Technique

In this brief, we present a high gain sub-harmonic mixer using PMOS cross couple pair ( <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">CCP</i> ) to implement the <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">negative impedance</i> and current-bleeding technique at 60 GHz. In order to increase conversion gain, we adopt the PMOS <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">CCP</i> for the <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$g_{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> -boost technique to raise the overall transconductance between <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">RF</i> and <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">LO</i> stages. We also use it for current bleeding to reduce the loss of <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">LO</i> switches. Thus, the overall conversion gain can be improved by PMOS <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">CCP</i> . At IF stage, the differential signal is converted to single-ended signal by an active balun. The active balun not only can offer gain, but also can cancel out common-mode noise to improve noise figure. The measured peak gain is 6.95 dB at 61 GHz under <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">LO</i> power of 1 dBm at 30 GHz. Under the different four channels at 60 GHz, the measured <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">IP1dB</i> is better than −9.4 dBm. The measured 3-dB <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">RF</i> bandwidth is from 57–67 GHz and 3-dB <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">IF</i> bandwidth is 1.1 GHz. Total <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">dc</i> power consumption is only 16 mW at 1 dBm <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">LO</i> power for 1.2 V supplied voltage. To our best knowledge, this subharmonic mixer has the highest gain and better <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">FoM</i> among active mixers at <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${V}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> -band.

A Wideband Subharmonic Mixer Incorporating Signal Interference Technique Based Isolation Circuit

A broadband (8.7 GHz – 11.5 GHz) performing passive sub-harmonic down-conversion mixer using signal interference technique (SIT) is demonstrated, designed and reported in this paper. The local oscillator (LO) frequency is half of the radio frequency (RF) for the 2xsub-harmonic mixer architecture; therefore, for the RF lying in the range 8.7 GHz to 11.5 GHz, required LO frequency range is 4.25 GHz to 5.65 GHz with 0.2 GHz fixed intermediate frequency (IF). With a broadband operation, designed prototype shows single sideband down-conversion loss in the range 9.6 dB – 12.6 dB. Moreover, large-signal testing infers an adequate linear trait of the proposed design, showing -3 dBm and 11.32 dBm for the 1 dB compression point and third order input intercept point, respectively.

A 45- to 64-GHz ultra-low-power and low-LO-power sub-harmonic down-conversion mixer with merged self-biased trans-impedance amplifier in 90-nm CMOS

A 45- to 64-GHz ultra-low-power single-ended sub-harmonic down-conversion mixer with a merged structure fabricated in 90-nm CMOS process with triple-well NMOS devices is presented. The mixer core is merged directly with self-biased trans-impedance amplifier (TIA) to omit its traditional load stage and to enhance the conversion gain. By using weak-inversion bias technique in a source-driven topology, the mixer core only needs quiescent current of μA which can be supported from TIA via the feedback resistor. The sub-harmonic mixers can work effectively for millimeter wave (MMW) system by employing local oscillator (LO) frequency that is only half of the fundamental mixer. When operating with the optimal low LO power of −3.5 dBm at 30 GHz, the mixer exhibits a maximum conversion gain (CG) of 6.4 dB and 2 LO-to-RF isolation higher than 46.5 dB from 45 to 64 GHz. The total power consumption is 1 mW at 0.8 V. The calculated figure of merits (FOM) with the consideration of CG and power consumption is excellent among the reported mixers operating at V-band in CMOS process.

A 0.12-&lt;formula formulatype="inline"&gt;&lt;tex Notation="TeX"&gt;${\hbox{mm}}^{2} $&lt;/tex&gt;&lt;/formula&gt; 2.4-GHz CMOS Inductorless High Isolation Subharmonic Mixer With Effective Current-Reuse Transconductance

In this work, the design of an inductorless, high-isolation, and high conversion gain fully differential subharmonic down-conversion mixer for 2.4-GHz wireless application is presented. A complementary current-reuse technique is adopted between the transconductance and the local oscillator (LO) switching stage to boost the conversion gain without additional power consumption in the concept of reusing the dc current of the LO switching stage. The LO switching transistors are driven by a 25% duty cycle input to further enhance the conversion gain and improve the noise-figure performance. An active balun is integrated in the design for single-balanced to differential conversion or vice-versa, along with an RC poly phase filter to generate quadrature LO signals from a differential input signal. The subharmonic mixer is fabricated in a 0.13- $\mu{\hbox{m}}$ standard CMOS technology with a core chip dimension of 313 $\mu{\hbox{m}}\times\,$ 372 $\mu{\hbox{m}}$ and a power consumption of 5.82 mW from a supply voltage of 1.2 V. Experimental results show a conversion gain of 13.61 dB, an input-referred third-order intercept point of $-{\hbox{4.46 dBm}}$ , a noise figure of 20 dB, and an isolation greater than 50 dB between the LO, RF, and IF ports. The proposed inductorless subharmonic mixer has a competitive performance in size with high isolation performance and highest conversion gain in comparison to other published works.

InP HBT IC Technology for Terahertz Frequencies: Fundamental Oscillators Up to 0.57 THz

We report on the development of a 0.25-μm InP HBT IC technology for lower end of the THz frequency band (0.3-3 THz). Transistors demonstrate an extrapolated f <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">max</sub> of >;800 GHz while maintaining a common-emitter breakdown voltage (BVCEO) >;4 V. The transistors have been integrated in a full IC process that includes three-levels of interconnects, and backside processing. The technology has been utilized for key circuit building blocks (amplifiers, oscillators, frequency dividers, PLL, etc), all operating at ≥300 GHz. Next, we report a series of fundamental oscillators operating up to 0.57 THz fabricated in a 0.25-μm InP HBT technology. Oscillator designs are based on a differential series-tuned topology followed by a common-base buffer, in a fixed-frequency or varactor-tuned scheme. For ≥400 GHz designs, a subharmonic down-conversion mixer is integrated to facilitate spectrum measurement. At optimum bias, the measured output power was -6.2, -5.6, and -19.2 dBm, for 310.2-, 412.9-, and 573.1-GHz designs, respectively, with P <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">DC</sub> ≤ 115 mW. Varactor-tuned designs demonstrated 10.6-12.3 GHz of tuning bandwidth up to 300 GHz.