Design of a Low Power Distributed Broadband 9-31 GHz HEMT Mixer

millimeter-wave HEMT distributed mixer covering the RF frequency range from 9 to 31 GHz with IF frequencies from 10 to 80 MHz is presented. By employing uniform artificial transmission lines with charge injection technique, the proposed mixer demonstrates broadband characteristics at high microwave frequencies with maintaining high Conversion Gain and low DC power consumption. With a local oscillator power of 12 dBm, and RF power of -20 dBm, the proposed mixer has a Conversion Gain of -1.5 ~ 2 dB (without IF signal amplification), Noise Figure of 8.5 ~ 14.5 dB and 17 mW DC power consumption over a broadband frequencies from 9-31 GHz. Mixer operation is demonstrated both for downconversion to fixed IF and for broadband conversion using fixed LO frequencies. The simulated LO-to-RF isolation is better than 13 dB for overall operating frequency band. The topology of this mixer is suitable for monolithic implementation

Keywords:

distributed mixer , ultra-wideband , millimeter-wave (MMW) , broadband communication , HEMT mixer