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Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit Design for Cognitive Radio Systems pp 31–78Cite as

Wideband Receiver Design

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Abstract

An important element of cognitive radios is to be able to receive data signals from a wide frequency spectrum range. The wider the range, the more efficient use of spectrum becomes. In this chapter, techniques for wideband receiver design are discussed. The main components of a wideband receiver are detailed. This includes a discussion of wideband low-noise amplifiers (LNAs), high-performance radio frequency (RF) tracking filters, and image and harmonic reject mixers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Intel Corporation, Newport Beach, California, USA

    Amr Fahim

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Summary

Summary

In this chapter, the components of a wideband receiver have been detailed. First, a discussion on the requirements for wideband receivers was given. Wideband LNA topologies were then discussed and categorized into either CG techniques or feedback techniques. A detailed analysis and trade-off of each was given. The concept of variable gain control was discussed. Different techniques for gain control were detailed. RF tracking filter techniques were then given. Each technique was detailed and the design trade-offs of each was given. Finally, a discussion of image and harmonic rejection techniques in downconversion mixers was given.

One important concept in receiver design is that of cascaded performance. As was discussed earlier, the DR of the receiver is maximized by adjusting the gain control of the LNA and possibly BB amplifiers. One possible scenario of a gain lineup is shown in Fig. 3.53. The optimization starting point is from the ADC. Given the ADC performance, the requirements for the BB filters, VGA, gain control in LNA, RF filter are all determined. If a high-resolution ADC is designed, then the receiver components can be greatly simplified as more of the filtering can be accomplished in the digital domain. The two lines shown represent the DR of each block. The lower line represents the noise floor of the block and the upper line is represents the P1dB of each block. As the figure shows, the LNA has the best noise floor, but the worst P1dB performance. On the other hand, the BB filters and VGA have the worst noise performance, but the best linearity numbers. This type of lineup is typical in receiver design.

Fig. 3.53
figure 53

Gain lineup example in a receiver

Full size image

The cascaded NF is dominated by the LNA, with each block contributing depending on the gain of the block preceding it. More specifically, the cascaded noise factor of a receiver is given by Friis’ formula as [69]:

$$ F={{F}_{LNA}}+\frac{{{F}_{TF}}-1}{{{G}_{LNA}}}+\frac{{{F}_{mix}}-1}{{{G}_{LNA}}{{G}_{TF}}}+\frac{{{F}_{BB}}-1}{{{G}_{LNA}}{{G}_{TF}}{{G}_{mix}}}+\frac{{{F}_{ADC}}-1}{{{G}_{LNA}}{{G}_{TF}}{{G}_{mix}}{{G}_{BB}}}$$
(3.27)

where F i is the noise factor of an individual block i and G i is the power gain of an individual block i.

Conversely, the cascaded linearity performance is dominated by ADC, with each preceding block contributing depending on the gain of the previous block. More specifically, the cascaded IIP3 for a receiver is given by [69]:

$$ \frac{1}{IIP{{3}^{2}}}=\frac{1}{IIP3_{LNA}^{2}}+\frac{G_{LNA}^{2}}{IIP3_{TF}^{2}}+\frac{G_{LNA}^{2}G_{TF}^{2}}{IIP3_{mix}^{2}}+\frac{G_{LNA}^{2}G_{TF}^{2}G_{mix}^{2}}{IIP3_{BB}^{2}}+\frac{G_{LNA}^{2}G_{TF}^{2}G_{mix}^{2}G_{BB}^{2}}{IIP3_{ADC}^{2}}$$
(3.28)

This is a linear scale value. To convert it to decibels, ten times logarithm of (3.28) must be taken.

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Fahim, A. (2015). Wideband Receiver Design. In: Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit Design for Cognitive Radio Systems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11011-0_3

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