Radio Receiver Front-end Research Articles

L-band cryogenic radio astronomy receiver front-end of the Square Kilometre Array

This paper describes the design and measured performance of the band 2 (L-band, 950 MHz–1760 MHz) cryogenic receiver front-end of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope dish array. The system comprises a wide flare-angle axially corrugated conical horn, a dual linearly polarized orthogonal mode transduce, a noise injection directional coupler, and two amplification stages. Its compact design and cryogenic cooling allow for a very low receiver noise temperature, and it presents another step in the continuous improvement of the noise temperature performance. A Gifford–McMahon cooler physically cools the OMT with its integrated directional coupler to around 70 K, and the first stage low-noise amplifier to about 15 K. A bespoke measurement setup was designed to measure the system’s performance. The measured receiver noise is about 6 K across the frequency band.

Power Scaling Laws for Radio Receiver Front Ends

In this paper, we combine practically verified results from circuit theory with communication-theoretic laws. As a result, we obtain closed-form theoretical expressions linking fundamental system design and environment parameters with the power consumption of analog front ends (AFEs) for communication receivers. This collection of scaling laws and bounds is meant to serve as a theoretical reference for practical low power AFE design. We show how AFE power consumption scales with bandwidth, <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">SNDR</i> , and <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">SIR</i> . We build our analysis based on two well established power consumption studies and show that although they have different design approaches, they lead to the same scaling laws. The obtained scaling laws are subsequently used to derive relations between AFE power consumption and several other important communication system parameters, namely, digital modulation constellation size, symbol error probability, error control coding gain, and coding rate. Such relations, in turn, can be used when deciding which system design strategies to adopt for low-power applications. For instance, we show how AFE power scales with environment parameters if the performance is kept constant and we use these results to illustrate that adapting to fading fluctuations can theoretically reduce AFE power consumption by at least 20x.

A prominent approach to design low noise amplifiers for 802.11 wireless receiver frontends

With the efforts of innovative consortium, wireless local area network (WLAN) became alternative standard in wireless local area networking applications. From the beginning the data rate keeps pace from mega bits per second (Mbps) up to giga bits per second. The ease of adaptability of WLAN protocol and the need for high data rate communication system made a reason to develop a solution and to incorporate real time wireless transceivers on network interface cards and FPGAs. Over the past decade, the RFIC technology became the hive of communication industry, with the proliferation of 802.11 a, g, n, ac, ad wireless protocols. The applications like ultra wide band (UWB), digital TV broadcasting and global positioning system found their way to main-stream gadgets. With the design preferences such as interconnect parasitics, interconnects and coupling between devices the passive elements must be precisely designed. In this article, novel requirements of low noise amplifier (LNA) design for 2.4 GHz application with noise modelling is presented.

A Prominent Approach to Design Low Noise Amplifiers for 802.11 Wireless Receiver Frontends

With the efforts of innovative consortium, wireless local area network (WLAN) became alternative standard in wireless local area networking applications. From the beginning the data rate keeps pace from mega bits per second (Mbps) up to giga bits per second. The ease of adaptability of WLAN protocol and the need for high data rate communication system made a reason to develop a solution and to incorporate real time wireless transceivers on network interface cards and FPGAs. Over the past decade, the RFIC technology became the hive of communication industry, with the proliferation of 802.11 a, g, n, ac, ad wireless protocols. The applications like ultra wide band (UWB), digital TV broadcasting and global positioning system found their way to main-stream gadgets. With the design preferences such as interconnect parasitics, interconnects and coupling between devices the passive elements must be precisely designed. In this article, novel requirements of low noise amplifier (LNA) design for 2.4 GHz application with noise modelling is presented.

RF Front-Ends Nonlinearity Characterization Using Reflected Power

The electromagnetic susceptibility to third-order intermodulation (IM3) of radio-frequency (RF) receiver front-ends is studied. Two-tone test is the most widely used nonlinear distortion characterization method. It produces IM components in operating bands of RF front-end, which are called in-band IM products and are caused by system nonlinearities. It is proposed here to measure the IM3 signal reflected by the system when two-tone excitation is applied to the antenna port. The method is shown to agree well with standard estimations of the nonlinear properties of various radio receiver front-ends with different designs. Devices are compared in terms of susceptibility to intermodulation.

3.6 mw low power wireless RF receiver front end using creative current recycle technique

This paper presents the design of low noise amplifier and mixer (LIXER) circuit for wireless receiver front ends using 65 nm CMOS technology. The circuit is implemented with CMOS transistors and uses 65 nm CMOS process. Proposed LIXER circuit achieves a maximum gain of 25 dB and DSB noise figure of 3.5 dB. In the given circuit, current shunt paths had created by using LC tank circuit with transistors Q5 and Q6. By using the creative current recycle technique circuit consumes 3.6 mW power with 1.2 V power supply. The operating frequency of the proposed structure is 2.4 GHz with 25 dB conversion gain and −13 dBm IIP3. The operating of the receiver front end is 2.4 GHz is used for IEEE 802.11a WLAN, Bluetooth, and ZigBee applications.

CMOS Transimpedance Amplifier for Visible Light Communications

Transimpedance amplifiers (TIAs) play a pivotal role in the optical wireless receiver front end. To exploit its distinctive open-loop characteristics, a feedback transimpedance amplifier comprising a feedforward current amplifier (CA-TIA) is investigated. Attributing to the small input impedance with a high-pass response of its feedforward gain element, the bandwidth of the CA-TIA is less sensitive to the TIA gain. The analysis and implementation of the CA-TIA are experimentally validated.

Ultra‐wideband wireless receiver front‐end for high‐speed indoor applications

Low-noise, ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless receiver front-end circuits were presented in this study. A two-stage common-source low-noise amplifier with wideband input impedance matching network, an active-balun and a double-balanced down-conversion mixer were adopted in the UWB wireless receiver front-end. The proposed wireless receiver front-end circuits were implemented in 0.18 μm radio-frequency-CMOS process. The maximum down-conversion power gain of the front-end is 25.8 dB; minimum single-sideband noise figure of the front-end is 4.9 dB over complete UWB band ranging from 3.1 to 10.6 GHz. Power consumption including buffers is 39.2 mW.

Low noise, 0.4-3 GHz cryogenic receiver for radio astronomy.

We present the design and measurement of a radio telescope receiver front end cooled to 100 K physical temperature, and working over 400 MHz to 3 GHz frequency band. The system uses a frequency independent feed developed for operation as a feed for parabola using sinuous elements and integrated with an ultra-wideband low noise amplifier. The ambient temperature system is tested on the 43 m radio telescope in Green Bank, WV and the system verification results on the sky are presented. The cryogenic receiver is developed using a Stirling cycle, one stage cryocooler. The measured far field patterns and the system noise less than 80 K over a 5:1 bandwidth are presented.

High Gain and Low Noise Single Balanced Wireless Receiver Front-End Circuit Design

This paper presents a wideband wireless receiver front-end for 3.1-5.0GHz band group-1 (BG-1) WiMedia application. The front-end circuits are designed in 0.18um standard CMOS process. The experimental results show the maximum conversion power gain is 45.5dB; minimum noise figure is 2.9dB. Input return loss is lower than -9.3dB and output return loss is lower than -6.8dB. The maximum LO conversion power is 0dBm. 3dB working frequency is 1.9GHz (3.1GHz-5.0GHz) Total power consumption is 24.3mW including LNA, mixer and all buffers. Total chip area is 1.27mm2 including dummy and pads.

A 0.7 to 3 GHz wireless receiver front end in 65-nm CMOS with an LNA linearized by positive feedback

This paper presents a wireless receiver front-end intended for cellular applications implemented in a 65 nm CMOS technology. The circuit features a low noise amplifier (LNA), quadrature passive mix...

Linearity Enhancement Techniques in Radio Receiver Front-Ends

A key role in determining the overall performance of a communication link is played by the linearity of the analog sections of the transmitter and the receiver. Nonlinearity in the receiver can impact performance in several ways, including degradation in sensitivity, reduction in gain, and the appearance of spurious energy within the frequency band of interest from out-of-band sources. An overview of circuit and architectural techniques for enhancing receiver front-end linearity is presented. Two types of techniques are described, those that rely on device or circuit level linearization, through reduction of nonlinear coefficients, and those that rely on attenuation of undesirable interferers.

A transformer-loaded receiver front end for 2.4 GHz WLAN in 0.13 μm CMOS technology

A 2.4 GHz radio frequency receiver front end with an on-chip transformer compliant with IEEE 802.11b/g standards is presented. Based on zero-IF receiver architecture, the front end comprises a variable gain common-source low noise amplifier with an on-chip transformer as its load and a high linear quadrature folded Gilbert mixer. As the load of the LNA, the on-chip transformer is optimized for lowest resistive loss and highest power gain. The whole front end draws 21 mA from 1.2 V supply, and the measured results show a double side band noise figure of 3.75 dB, −31 dBm IIP3 with 44 dB conversion gain at maximum gain setting. Implemented in 0.13 μm CMOS technology, it occupies a 0.612 mm2 die size.

The Noise Performance of a Multiple-Input-Port and Multiple-Output-Port Low-Noise Amplifier Connected to an Array of Coupled Antennas

We address the noise characterization of a multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port (MIPMOP) device receiving signals from an array of antennas. A definition of the noise figures and natural noise figures of a MIPMOP device is provided, and the resulting properties are detailed in the impedance and admittance representations. We compute the natural noise figures of a low-noise MIPMOP amplifier comprising a MIMO series-series feedback amplifier (MIMO-SSFA), designed for a wireless receiver front-end.

A Fully Integrated Variable-Gain Multi-tanh Low-Noise Amplifier for Tunable FM Radio Receiver Front-End

In this paper, we present a two-stage variable-gain low-noise amplifier (LNA) used in a frequency modulation (FM) radio receiver front-end for a variety of portable audio devices. We also describe a tunable antenna interface and a voltage regulator used in the front-end. The front-end can be tuned to resonate at FM frequencies from 63 to 129 MHz. The two-stage LNA achieves a programmable small-signal voltage gain from 0.5 to 32.5 dB in around 1-dB steps across the FM band from 76 to 108 MHz. Its input-referred noise voltage is less than 1.5 nV/radicHz in the high gain mode. Furthermore, the linearity of the LNA and front-end is improved by employing the multi-tanh design principle. In the low and high gain modes of the LNA, the measured IIP3 are -5.2 and -16.5 dBm, respectively, compared with -10.5 and -25.5 dBm without using the multi-tanh doublets. The whole LNA is fabricated in a TSMC 0.18-mum CMOS technology. It draws maximum 4.5 mA current (5.5 mA including the regulator) from a 1.35-V supply and occupies 0.15 mm2 of chip area. Experimental and simulation results are both provided to demonstrate the performance of the LNA and front-end.

Feedforward Interference Cancellation in Radio Receiver Front-Ends

An interference cancellation technique is described for improving the dynamic range of receivers. A feedforward approach is used to attenuate large interferers before the down-conversion mixer in a receiver. This is accomplished with no measurable impact on the in-band noise performance. Techniques to cancel interference within a narrowband and also in multiple bands are described. Simulation results and measurements from a discrete prototype system are used to validate the approach.

A CMOS infrared wireless optical receiver front-end with a variable-gain fully-differential transimpedance amplifier

A CMOS infrared wireless optical receiver front-end is presented. A stable variable-gain fully-differential transimpedance feedback amplifier is designed employing a current-mode amplifier as the feedforward gain element. More than a triple variation of the transimpedance gain, from 0.3 k/spl Omega/ to 1 k/spl Omega/, the variable-gain transimpedance amplifier achieves desirable gain-bandwidth independence. For an infrared wireless optical receiver front-end employing the transimpedance amplifier, the optical preamplifier achieves a transimpedance gain of 66 dB/spl Omega/ and a bandwidth of 114 MHz with a 5 pF photodiode capacitance, and a power consumption of 17.4 mW.

Superconducting electronics coming to market

Superconducting electronic (SCE) products have been commercially available for over 25 years. However, the market remained extremely small. A conservative estimate of the total 1997 volume gives, approximately, US$ 30 million. Until 1997, LTS SQUID systems, mostly for biomagnetic research, represented the dominant share. High-temperature superconductivity (HTS) hadn't yet had any real impact on the market. However, in 1998 HTS filter subsystems for wireless telecommunication receiver front end represent a small, but rapidly growing segment of the market. This paper gives highlights of technical achievements and progress in SQUIDs, and in SCE for wireless, while emphasizing obstacles to and opportunities for much larger markets. A summary of an industry survey conducted prior to writing the paper is also included. Most other SCE products and the identified potential new products, LTS and HTS, represent very small niches having little chance for major growth. These are not discussed. A notable exception is single flux quantum digital electronics. It does not command any market share today, but still has the largest long-term potential for a very large market in telecommunications and in massive data processing.

A 1.9 GHz low-voltage silicon bipolar receiver front-end for wireless personal communications systems

A 1.9 GHz wireless receiver front-end (low-noise preamplifier and mixer) is described that incorporates monolithic microstrip transformers for significant improvements in performance compared to silicon broadband designs. Reactive feedback and coupling elements are used in place of resistors to lower the front-end noise figure through the reduction of resistor thermal noise, and this also allows both circuits to operate at supply voltages below 2 V. These circuits have been fabricated in a production 0.8 /spl mu/m BiCMOS process that has a peak npn transistor transit frequency (f/sub T/) of 11 GHz. At a supply voltage of 1.9 V, the measured mixer input third-order intercept point is +2.3 dBm with a 10.9 dB single-sideband noise figure. Power dissipated by the mixer is less than 5 mW. The low-noise amplifier input intercept is -3 dBm with a 2.8 dB noise figure and 9.5 dB gain. Power dissipation of the preamplifier is less than 4 mW, again from a 1.9 V supply.