Efficient testing of wireless polar transmitters

Polar radio architectures are gaining in popularity due to the promise of an all digital implementations in future CMOS systems-on-chip (SoCs) solutions. Test cost is an important consideration for manufacturers developing these complex devices. Phase noise is an important specification in all digital polar radios as it affects the signal modulation quality. In this paper, a low cost test technique for predicting gain, IIP3, phase noise, and EVM with good accuracy is proposed. The method uses a single down-conversion module and a low pass filter on the load board. Although this test setup has been proposed in the past for other specifications, it has not used to test for phase noise and EVM specifications.