A Sub-6G Mixer First RXFE with LO Overlap Reduction and 1.08 dB NF Degradation

Abstract

This work presents a mixer-first receiver front-end (RXFE) optimized for sub-6 GHz applications with minimized local oscillator (LO) pulse overlap. A design methodology is proposed to mitigate LO overlap-induced degradation in input matching and noise figure (NF), validated using a current-mode logic (CML)-based LO generator. Implemented in TSMC 65-nm CMOS, the RXFE achieves an input return loss (S11) below -10 dB, an NF degradation of 1.08 dB, and consumes no more than 12.19 mA from a 1.2 V supply across the 1-5.6 GHz frequency range. The proposed RXFE occupies an active layout area of 302 um x 209 um.