International Journal of Microwave and Wireless Technologies

Table of Contents - August 2012 - Volume 4, Issue 04  

Research Papers

A 1.2 V 15–32 GHz low-power single-balanced gate mixer with a miniature rat-race hybrid

Chung-Chun Chena1 c1, Chun-Hsien Liena2, Hen-Wai Tsaoa3 and Huei Wanga4

a1 Silicon Creations Inc., 49 Highway 23 NE, Suwanee, GA 30024, USA.

a2 ACE Solution, Hsinchu, Taiwan 302, Republic of China. Phone: + 1 404 398 9426.

a3 Department of Electrical Engineering, Graduate Institute of Electronics Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan 10617, Republic of China.

a4 Department of Electrical Engineering, Graduate Institute of Communication Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan 10617, Republic of China.

Abstract

A 15–32 GHz miniature single-balanced gate mixer is proposed and analyzed. It achieves a smaller chip area with acceptable conversion gain and port-to-port isolation. In addition, the design procedure is described in detail. This mixer, fabricated in 90 nm digital CMOS technology, demonstrates a measured conversion loss of 1 dB and higher than 30 dB RF-to-LO port isolation from 17 to 32 GHz, at a local oscillator (LO) driver power of −4.3 dBm. The total dc power consumption is only 6 mW from a 1.2 V supply, including output buffer. The low dc power consumption and LO driver power reduce the power budget, and the proposed miniature rat-race hybrid facilitates integration in a receiver.

(Received April 08 2011)

(Revised January 28 2012)

(Online publication April 03 2012)

Keywords

  • Gate mixer;
  • miniature;
  • rat-race hybrid;
  • single-balanced

Correspondence:

c1 Corresponding author: C.-C. Chen Email: ccchen@siliconcr.com