A low noise fully differential 60 GHz CMOS active down converter with resonating current bleeding

This paper presents optimization process, simulations and measurement results of a fully differential 60 GHz active down converter with resonating current bleeding in a 90 nm CMOS process. The circuit is thought to be used within a superheterodyne receiver with intermediate frequency at around 20 GHz, covering the four channels of the IEEE802.15.3c standard. Thanks to the careful optimization of the resonating current bleeding network, the quad introduced noise is minimized keeping the conversion gain and the required local oscillator power at reasonable values.