A Mixer-Embedded Low Noise Amplifier for Mixer-First Direct-Conversion Wake-Up Receivers

Abstract:
This paper presents the design of an integrated mixer-embedded low-noise amplifier (LNA) for mixer-first direct down-conversion wake-up receivers suited for IEEE 802.11ba. An efficient self-biased common gate-common source (CG-CS) coupling LNA with body coupling for improved noise figure (NF) was combined with three passive two-path mixers with capacitive load. This way, large decoupling capacitors can be avoided and antenna impedance matching without the need for external matching circuitry is achieved. Simulations show a high gain which can be varied between 52 dB and 16 dB, an NF of less than 9.4 dB and a current consumption of only 35 muA at 900mV supply voltage. In its lowest gain setting, an IIP3 of −22dBm is achieved. The structure is implemented in a 28nm CMOS technology. Currently, only post-layout simulation data is available and a test die for collecting experiment data is being manufactured.