N-path Passive Mixers: Simple Circuits, Surprising Capabilities

IEEE Solid State Circuits Society Distinguished Lecture

Date:         April 22, 2022
Time:        12:00 – 13:00
Location:   Online

Speaker:   Dr. Alyosha Molnar

Abstract:

In this presentation I will discuss N-phase passive mixers (and their close relative the “N-path filter”) as applied to interference tolerant radio receivers. Although known for decades, the advent of deep-submicron CMOS has enabled N-path passive mixers and filters to be scaled to GHz frequencies with surprisingly good performance in both noise and linearity. I will briefly review the basic operation and properties of such circuits, and provide an intuitive analysis of the circuit and transistor properties that limit their performance, including insights into their response to phase noise. Such N-path mixers, as originally conceived, and as implemented in the sub-10GHz regime, however, place requirements on their Local Oscillator waveforms that are ill-suited to the higher frequency (e.g. mm-wave) operation required for newer standards such as 5G. I will therefore also introduce a second set of design techniques and analytical results enable similar function at much higher frequencies.

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https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/312052

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