A 1.2-V 5.2-mW 20-30-GHz wideband receiver front-end in 0.18-μm CMOS
Journal
IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques
Journal Volume
60
Journal Issue
11
Pages
3502-3512
Date Issued
2012
Author(s)
Abstract
This paper presents a low-power wideband receiver front-end design using a resonator coupling technique. Inductively coupled resonators, composed of an on-chip transformer and parasitic capacitances from a low-noise amplifier, a mixer, and the transformer itself, not only provide wideband signal transfer, but also realize wideband high-to-low impedance transformation. The coupled resonators also function as a wideband balun to give single-to-differential conversion. Analytic expressions for the coupled resonators with asymmetric loads are presented for design guidelines. The proposed receiver front-end only needs a few passive components so that gain degradation caused by the passive loss is minimized. Hence, power consumption and chip area can be greatly reduced. The chip is implemented in 0.18-μ CMOS technology. The experimental result shows that the - bandwidth can span from 20 to 30 GHz with a peak conversion gain of 18.7 dB. The measured input return loss and third-order intercept point are better than 16.7 dB and - 7.6 dBm - respectively, over the bandwidth. The minimum noise figure is 7.1 dB. The power consumption is only 5.2 mW from a 1.2-V supply. The chip area is only 0.18 μ2. © 1963-2012 IEEE.
Subjects
CMOS; Common-gate (CG) low-noise amplifier (LNA); Inductively coupled resonators (ICRs); Low power; Low voltage; Mixer; Resonator coupling network (RCN); Wideband
SDGs
Other Subjects
Bandwidth; Broadband amplifiers; Capacitance; CMOS integrated circuits; Crystal resonators; Electromagnetic induction; Filter banks; Low power electronics; Mixers (machinery); CMOS; Inductively-coupled; Low Power; Low voltages; Resonator coupling; Wide-band; Low noise amplifiers
Type
journal article