Optimal distribution of the RF front-end system specifications to the RF front-end circuit blocks

Abstract

Rather delicate, distribution of the system specifications to the individual receiver blocks has not gained any exactness for the last decades. When distributing the system specifications to each of the blocks in receive chain, it is rather common practice to consider each performance parameter separately. However, as both the noise and the linearity performance depend on the gain of the corresponding circuit blocks, the noise figure (NF) and the third order intercept point (IP3) optimization procedure are not mutually exclusive. Therefore, a procedure for the optimal allocation of the performance parameters to the individual RF front-end circuit blocks is introduced in this paper. Optimizing the system performance with respect to the ratio NF/IP3/sup 2/, the maximum dynamic range design point can be found, satisfying both the noise and the linearity requirements.