Authors: Lalita Chouhan, Mr. Divyanshu Wagh
Abstract: Recently, the use of RF mixers has grown substantially. The Gilbert cell remains the de-facto core thanks to its high conversion gain, strong port-to-port isolation, and suppression of even-order distortion. Multi-tanh linearization implemented with multiple parallel differential transconductance stages offers excellent linearity but typically yields very low conversion gain. In contrast, current-bleeding improves both linearity and conversion gain by injecting additional bias current, at the cost of increased power consumption. Leveraging CMOS for its low cost, low static power, and compact area, we designed single-ended and differential low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) for WCDMA reception using the BSIM3v2 (Level-49) UMC 0.18-µm process in the Xcircuit open-source EDA tool. The designs prioritize high gain, low noise, good linearity, and input matching to a 50-ohm RF system.
