A Direct Conversion Merged LNA-I/Q-Mixer With Noise Reduction Using Dual Cross Coupling for WiMAX/WiBro Applications

Abstract

A direct conversion merged low noise amplifier (LNA) and I/Q-mixer with new noise reduction technique is presented in this letter. The merged LNA-I/Q-mixer employs a dual capacitor cross coupling (CCC) technique to improve the circuit noise performance. The first CCC is applied at the transconductance stage of the LNA to increase the effective transconductance, which in turn lowers the noise figure and decreases the current consumption. The second CCC connection is applied at the cascode stage of the LNA, which can reduce the influence of the noise current from cascode transistors. The simulation shows the proposed combination of the LNA and I/Q-mixer configuration with the dual CCC technique can achieve NF 3 dB better than that of conventional merged topologies in a wideband application. The measured NF is lower than 4.55 dB from 2.3 to 2.7 GHz. In addition, low-power and low-cost circuit is realized due to current-reused and inductor-less design at the interface of the LNA and I-Q mixer. The core circuit only consumes 16.83 mW and occupies 0.16 mm(2) area.