Optimal Filter Partitioning

Abstract

In the deployment of 5G communication systems, we observe a potentially vast application spectrum ranging from low power low distance to high power long distance. The question is which of the mixer-based SDRX or mixer-less direct sampling SDRX will be the optimal choice for a given application. Thus, it is mandatory, when faced with the question above, that the designer is enabled to act fast and make the best design choices in terms of optimizing the SDRX area and power consumption. In this chapter, I will demonstrate the fundamental choice the designer has to make is the optimal channel selection: how much of the blockers/interferers will be filtered in the analog domain and how much will remain to be filtered in the digital domain. This key trade-off will shape the receiver design and describes the optimum filter partitioning between the SDRX baseband analog LPF and the digital filter following the A/D conversion. The optimal filter partitioning translates to the trade-off between the analog LPF area and ADC power consumption. As a direct result of the newly developed systematic analysis and the introduction of the new and efficient tool, the generic blocker diagram, the aforementioned trade-off is evaluated through a newly defined figure of merit, FOM _CHS , in one single plot.