A comparative study of low-power CMOS Gilbert mixers in weak and strong inversion

This paper presents a comparative study of 2.4 GHz double-balanced Gilbert mixers with devices operating in both weak and strong inversion. The current drawn from the supply voltage by the mixers in both weak and strong inversion is chosen to be less than 100 μA through proper biasing and sizing. Two Gilbert mixers are designed in IBM CMRF8SF-0.13μm 1.2V CMOS technology and analyzed using Spectre from Cadence Design Systems with BSIM4 models. The key parameters of the mixers are compared. Simulation results demonstrate that the power consumption of the mixer in weak inversion can be lowered to a few μW. This is at the cost of other performance such as IIP3, P1dB, and conversion gain. The power consumption of the Gilbert mixer is significantly lower as compared with that of the reported mixers in weak inversion. The other performance parameters of the Gilbert mixer in weak inversion are comparable to those of the reported mixers in weak inversion.