Analog to Digital Converter Specification for UMTS/FDD Receiver Applications

Design trends in wireless receiver architecture for future mobile communication field have pushed digital domain closer to the antenna. Consequently, the specifications for digital-to-analog converters (ADCs) must meet stringent requirements according to standard wireless communication regulations. This study aims to find suitable number of resolutions and sampling frequencies for an ADC in third generation (3G) wireless application. The paper presents mathematical analysis to derive required specifications for an ADC to be used in a UMTS/FDD receiver. The derivation that is based on receiver standard documents specifies the design plan for a Nyquist converter type. The result shows that the minimum resolution is 10 bit for practical realization. The minimum required sampling frequency is 5 MHz. The specifications have considered zero-IF receiver architecture with In-phase and quadrature implementation.