Gilbert cell mixer design based on a novel systematic approach for nanoscale technologies

The paper presents a systematic methodology for designing a CMOS down-conversion mixer based on a conventional double balanced Gilbert cell. The design flow exploits the gm/ID methodology in order to optimize the size of the transistors that allow achieving the best tradeoff between conversion gain, noise figure, third-order intercept and power DC consumption of the entire system. The mixer was designed using a 0.13 μm process from IHP Microelectronics, and it exhibits a final conversion gain of 10.3 dB @ 0 dBm local oscillator power. The average noise figure is about 12 dB and the input third-order intercept is 0 dBm. Finally, the chip-core without bonding pads measures only 0.028 mm × 0.034 mm and it dissipates 4.4 mW with 1.5 V supply.

[1]  Fengyi Huang,et al.  A low-power reconfigurable mixer for MB-OFDM UWB receivers , 2009, 2009 Asia Pacific Conference on Postgraduate Research in Microelectronics & Electronics (PrimeAsia).

[2]  Denis Flandre,et al.  ased Methodology for the Design of CMOS Analog Circuits and Its Application to the Synthesis of a Silicon-on-Insulator , 1996 .

[3]  Claudio Talarico,et al.  UWB distributed amplifier design using lookup tables and gm over ID methodology , 2017 .

[4]  Barrie Gilbert,et al.  A precise four-quadrant multiplier with subnanosecond response , 1968, IEEE Solid-State Circuits Newsletter.

[5]  Giuseppe Coviello,et al.  Distributed amplifier design for UWB positioning systems using the gm over id methodology , 2016, 2016 13th International Conference on Synthesis, Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Methods and Applications to Circuit Design (SMACD).

[6]  G. Avitabile,et al.  Gm over ID design for UWB distributed amplifier , 2016, 2016 IEEE 59th International Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems (MWSCAS).

[7]  Jeng-Rern Yang,et al.  2 – 13GHz broadband CMOS low voltage mixer with active balun designed for UWB systems , 2010, 2010 IEEE International Conference of Electron Devices and Solid-State Circuits (EDSSC).

[8]  Tae-Yeoul Yun,et al.  A Low-Noise UWB CMOS Mixer Using Switched Biasing Technique , 2007, 2007 IEEE International Workshop on Radio-Frequency Integration Technology.

[9]  T. Manku,et al.  A charge-injection method for Gilbert cell biasing , 1998, Conference Proceedings. IEEE Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering (Cat. No.98TH8341).

[10]  Yu-jie Dai,et al.  A Sub 1V High-Gain Low-Noise CMOS Downconversion Folded Mixer for 2.4GHz ISM Band Applications , 2008, 2008 International Symposium on Intelligent Information Technology Application Workshops.

[11]  Greg E. Bridges,et al.  An Ultra Wideband (UWB) Mixer with 0.18UM RF CMOS Technology , 2006, 2006 Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering.