A Wideband Balun LNA I/Q-Mixer combination in 65nm CMOS

Wideband receivers are required for many applications including the upcoming software-defined radio (SDR) architectures and ultra-wideband communication standards. These standards cover a frequency spectrum from a few hundred MHz up to 6 GHz. Co-operability with other communication devices (e.g., cellular and WLAN) operating in the same spectrum is mandatory, setting especially stringent demands on the wideband linearity of such receivers. The use of area-consuming on-chip inductors must be avoided as the cost per area of modern CMOS processes is high. The receiver preferably has a single-ended RF-input, as this avoids the use of an external broadband balun and its accompanying losses. A 65nm CMOS inductor-less wideband LNA- mixer topology is presented, merging a current commutating I/Q- mixer with a noise canceling balun-LNA.