An Analog/Mixed-Signal FFT Processor for Wideband OFDM Systems

An analog/mixed-signal (AMS) Fourier transform circuit topology is presented that has the potential to significantly reduce power consumption in future broad-band OFDM systems. The topology would replace the flash based analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and the digital FFT core in current OFDM systems with an alternative analog multiplier-based converter. System simulations are presented to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed system. The new topology is shown to significantly reduce power consumption of the ADC/FFT block.