An Ultra-low-power Integrated RF Front-end Based on Chip Transformer for UWB system

Abstract

Abstract. In this paper, an ultra-low-power integrated RF front-end for UWB system is proposed.It contains a single-ended low noise amplifier (LNA) and a double balanced mixer. The resistive shunt feedback topology is employed to achieve a good input impedance matching in the whole UWB band. The stacked common-source (CS) LNA is adopting current-reuse and forward body bias techniques to reduce working current and voltage considerably. A transformer network is employed between LNA and double balanced mixer, which not just helps to convert the singleended signal to differential signal, but also makes a great contribution to save the power consumption of the front-end circuit. Fabricated in the TSMC 0.18-μm RF CMOS technology, the S11 of the front-end is below -10dB in 3.1~10.6GHz. It achieves a conversion gain of 18.3~20.5dB, the double sideband (DSB) NF of 4.3~6.1dB. The IIP3 are -3.8dBm at 4.5GH. It consumes 2.4mA from a 0.8V supply voltage and occupies an active area of only 0.86*0.52 mm 2 .