Fully monolithic single-sideband upconverter mixer with sideband selection

A single-sideband upconverter mixer with sideband selection capability is presented. Sideband selection is accomplished by inverting the polarity of either the I or Q differential IF signals into the upconverter by means of a switch network. The mixer operates at an LO frequency of 5 GHz and an IF of 100 MHz, and thus it produces an upper sideband at 5.1 GHz and a lower sideband at 4.9 GHz. Experimental results show that the mixer has a conversion gain of over 12 dB and that its IP_1dB is -12 dBm and its IIP3 is -5 dBm. The OP_1dB and OIP3 of the upconverter are 0 dBm and +6.5 dBm, respectively. The chip was fabricated using a standard 130 nm CMOS process, it consumes a total of 26 mW of dc power and the circuit core occupies an area of 0.49 mm².