A 1.95 GHz Sub-1 dB NF, +40 dBm OIP3 WCDMA LNA Module

A silicon integrated LNA for WCDMA cellular infrastructure applications, e.g., base stations will be demonstrated. The LNA is designed for WCDMA band II, i.e., 1.92-1.98 GHz, and reaches a 0.9 dB NF at 27^°C and 1.2 dB at 65^°C. A 0.1 dB NF improvement is obtained when the first gain stage is implemented using a cascode topology rather than a two-stage topology. The output IP3 is +40 dBm (+38 dBm) at 27^°C and +37 dBm (+36 dBm) at 65^°C for the two-stage (cascode) topology. Both options have an input return loss better than 20 dB and output return loss better than 20 dB. A bypass mode and variable attenuation are provided to cope with large input signals. Implemented in a SiGe:C BiCMOS technology, the two-die MMIC is packaged on a single laminate. The total solution consumes just below 200 mA from a 5 V supply.