A wideband IM3 cancellation technique for CMOS attenuators

In the receiver path and in spectrum analyzers, typically gain control blocks are used to limit the incident power to the level that the receiver circuitry can handle without degrading the linearity; in the transmitter path stringent power control is also desirable. Although variable-gain amplifiers (VGAs) traditionally implement the gain-control block, attenuators based on FET transistors show superior performances on linearity, power handling capability and power consumption.