High-Linearity Direct Conversion Receiver with the Transconductance Equalization Technique and DCOC Method

Abstract

To improve the linearity of direct conversion receivers (DCRs), two high-linearity methods for high second-order intercept points (IP2s) and high third-order intercept points (IP3s) are proposed. To improve IP3s, a transconductance equalization technique for a complementary input operational amplifier (OPAMP) is proposed in an active-RC low-pass filter (LPF), while a digital-analog hybrid DC offset calibration (DCOC) method is proposed to improve IP2s. For one thing, the proposed transconductance equalization technique employs a pair of resistors to guarantee high voltage gain for an OPAMP with two-stage Miller topology under a high-input voltage swing to improve linearity with little deterioration of the noise performance. For another, during the DCOC method, the low-noise amplifier is turned off and replaced by an equivalent resistance of the output impedance of the low-noise amplifier to ensure the accuracy and effectiveness of the DCOC method. Fabricated in 40-nm CMOS technology, the receiver with proposed methods can realize a noise figure of 2.6–3.5 dB in the full frequency band, with an OIP3 of 28 dBm, an IM2 more than 70 dBc, and a remaining DC of −53.2 dBm under the total voltage gain of 60 dB.