A CMOS 802.11b wireless LAN transceiver

This paper describes a 2.4 GHz 0.25 μm CMOS RF transceiver chip that has the potential to be used in place of a SiGe transceiver chip used in an 802.11b radio. The 802.11b radio with the CMOS transceiver was tested along with the radio with a SiGe transceiver. The CMOS radio transmits an RMS power of 13.1 dBm at the antenna output while the SiGe radio has 13.2 dBm output power. The CMOS radio receiver has a sensitivity of -81 dBm at 11 Mbps while the SiGe receiver has a sensitivity of -84 dBm. Overall, the radio with CMOS transceiver consumes 5% more current than the one with the SiGe chip.