On the design of a radio front-end for HSDPA receivers

In this paper, the design considerations for an analogue front-end for the newly introduced HSDPA functionality of the UMTS WCDMA standard are described. First, the assumptions made on the transmitted signal are explained and then, the design considerations for the analogue front-end of a traditional super heterodyne receiver are shown, concluding that the distortion caused by the SAW filter will be the dominating factor. It is shown as well, how the parameters of the analogue frontend affect the design of the digital pulse shaping. Then the design considerations for a direct conversion receiver are analysed.