Patent · US Active

Low power highly linear RF downconverter

US7546110B2 · kind B2 · utility

1Cited by
0References
21Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 17, 2006
Grant dateJun 9, 2009
Priority date
Expiry dateAug 10, 2027

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH03D7/161
  • WIPO fieldBasic communication processes
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A technique for downconverting a RF signal comprises an antenna adapted to receive an RF signal; a transconductance amplifier connected to the antenna and adapted to amplify the RF signal; a passive mixer connected to the transconductance amplifier and adapted for current domain mixing of electrical current transferred from the transconductance amplifier; and a load impedance connected to the passive mixer. The load impedance may comprise a parallel combination of a frequency dependent negative resistance component, a capacitor, and a resistor. The load impedance may comprise a pair of complex poles, a pair of imaginary zeros, and a real pole. Voltages at an input and an output of the passive mixer are related such that the input voltage of the passive mixer is an upconverted version of the output voltage of the passive mixer, wherein the input voltage of the passive mixer is at an output of the transconductance amplifier.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.