A 0.18μm CMOS gain-switched LNA and mixer with large dynamic range

Abstract

A 2.4GHz 0.18μm CMOS gain-switched single-end Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) and a passive mixer with no external balun for near-zero-IF (Intermediate Frequency)/RF (Radio Frequency) applications are described. The LNA, fabricated in the 0.18μm 1P6M CMOS technology, adopts a gain-switched technique to increase the linearity and enlarge the dynamic range. The mixer is an IQ-based passive topology. Measurements of the CMOS chip are performed on the FR-4 PCB and the input is matched to 50 .Ω Combining LNA and mixer, the front-end measured performances in high gain state are: -15dB of S11, 18.5dB of voltage gain, 4.6dB of noise figure, -15dBm of IIP3, -85dBm to -10dBm dynamic range. The full circuit drains 6mA from a 1.8V supply.