cmos rfic




Designing a mixer to work within an RFIC is not an easy task. Many different performance specifications must be prioritized, based on the application. Some are intended for receive applications with a wide range of input signal levels, where maximum linearity under large signal conditions is often more critical than the noise figure. On the other hand, for transmit applications where the signal levels can be controlled, the design strategy shifts to tradeoffs between noise and intermodulation distortion (IMD) behavior to achieve the largest useable dynamic range.