Yield analysis of active mixers with N-bit IIP2-tuning

Abstract

In this paper, we study the effect of a simple load resistor tuning on the IIP2 yield of active down-conversion mixers. Without IIP2 tuning, only 46 % of the mixers designed in a 65-nm standard digital CMOS technology meet the IIP2 requirement of the WCDMA standard. We investigate how much the yield can be increased with a digitally controlled load resistance tuning as a function of the number of control bits. We show that the the IIP2 yield can be increased from 46 % to 97 % with a 5-bit tuning. The tuning is efficient even with considerable phase and amplitude errors in the LO and RF signals.