A 60 GHz down-conversion mixer using a novel topology in 65 nm CMOS

A 60 GHz down-conversion mixer used in the unlicensed 60 GHz band system in 65-nm CMOS technology is presented in this paper. Based on the double-balanced Gilbert cell, the mixer comprises a cross-coupled pair to rise conversion gain and two series LCR network resonating at IF frequency to enhance bandwidth. As a result, both high gain and broad bandwidth are achieved. From the simulation results, the conversion gain exceeds 10 dB and 3-dB IF bandwidth is from 8 GHz to 16 GHz, the OP_1dB is -6 dBm and noise figure is below 12 dB in band of interest. The mixer consumes 5 mA from a 1.2 V supply without buffer, and the chip area is 1×0.75 mm² with pads.