Mixer with current mirror load
US6029060A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 16, 1997 |
| Grant date | Feb 22, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 16, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH03D7/14
- WIPO fieldBasic communication processes
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A multi-stage mixer circuit has two or more mixer stages, each stage having a mixer core and successive mixer cores being separated by one or more current mirrors. By using current mirrors to process the currents generated by the mixer cores, instead of current-to-voltage and voltage-to-current converters as in the prior art, the present invention provides a mixer circuit with reduced signal distortion and power dissipation. In one embodiment, the two mixer cores of a two-stage mixer circuit are implemented using the same type of transistor devices (e.g., N-type), and there are two current mirrors between the mixer cores. In another embodiment, the two mixer cores of a two-stage mixer circuit are implemented using different types of transistor devices (i.e., one N-type and the other P-type), and there is only one current mirror between the mixer cores. A mixer circuit of the present invention may have an initial voltage-to-current converter to convert an input voltage signal into a current for the first mixer core. A mixer circuit of the present invention may also have a current-to-voltage converter to convert the current generated by the last mixer core into an output voltage sign…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.