General Relations Between IP2, IP3, and Offsets in Differential Circuits and the Effects of Feedback

In the presence of offsets, all balanced circuits show an apparent second-order distortion. Differential feedback lowers third-order nonlinearity and also these second-order effects. The results are important for the baseband circuits of zero-IF wireless receivers, which often need a very large second-order intercept point. It is shown that a published analysis of distortion in a bipolar double-balanced mixer is a special case of these general relationships.