Sub-harmonic upconversion mixer using 0.18 μm CMOS technology

A novel sub-harmonic upconversion mixer using Chartered 0.18 μm radio-frequency (RF) CMOS technology for 2.4 GHz wireless application is introduced. Using the sub-harmonic technique, the required local oscillator (LO) frequency can be reduced a half, which simplifies the design of the LO. Moreover, the sub-harmonic technique can effectively reduce the influence of LO leakage. The measured results demonstrate that the novel upconversion mixer can provide about 14.4 dB conversion gain, whereas the power consumption is only 1.65 mW with a 1 V supply voltage, and the input-referred third-order intercept point (IIP3) of the mixer is about 4 dBm. The chip area including test pads is only 0.7 × 0.72 mm².