Advanced nonlinearity analysis of a 6 GHz wideband receiver

CMOS receivers need to comply to stringent linearity specifications. Due to the high complexity of those receivers, it is not obvious for the designer to identify the nonlinear behavior. To gain insight in the nonlinear behavior we use an advanced multisine method that pinpoints the dominant nonlinear device in the receiver. This is demonstrated on a 90 nm CMOS wideband receiver where the different distortion mechanisms are revealed. Insights in those distortion mechanisms can be used to reduce the nonlinear behavior of the overall receiver. The receivers output distortion, that is predicted with this method, is successfully verified with measurements.