MultiStandard

Multi-Band
Receiver
Design.
THEORY AND RF FRONT END DESIGN.
PART-1

Multi-Standard

Multi-Standard transceiver is like a man who can speak multiple

languages, it can operate in different communications standards.

For example, the receiver inside the cellular phone in your hand, it
can operate over 2G (GSM), 2.5G (EDGE, GPRS), 3G (UMTS) and 4G.

GPRS

GSM

EDG
E

Multi-standard
RF front-end

LTE
UMT
S

WiMAX

Digital
processin
g
Subsyste
m

Data

Multi-Band

There are standards that operate on

different frequency band for the same
standard, for example:

WLAN IEEE 802.11 standard:

802.11a : from 5.15 to 5.35 GHz in/out Door.

from 5.725 to 5.85 GHz outdoor.

WiMAX IEEE 802.16e:

802.11b/g: 2.4-2.4835-GHz.

2.5 GHz band & 3.5 GHz band.

For a Multi-Standard transceiver it should

operate over different frequency bands
with different bandwidths depending on
each standard it supports.

Multi-Standard transceiver:

A Multi-Band/Multi-Standard transceiver (TRX) is a

radio front-end that can be operated in a number
of frequency bands. The frequency bands can be
changed easily without modifying the hardware.
[Ref.1]

The modern upgrades of the Multi-standard

transceiver are:

Software-Defined-Radio, which is a multistandard radio with reconfigurable digital

processing using embedded systems or
computers.

And cognitive radio, which is a SDR with the

ability of sensing the surrounding spectrum to use
the unused frequency bands for better spectrum
efficiency.

Receiver Architecture.

Receiver Architecture
Super-Heterodyne Receiver

The signal of interest is down-converted to an intermediate-frequency, then redown-converted to DC (Zero IF) or very low IF.

Receiver Architecture
Super-Heterodyne Receiver
Image problem.

if an interferer locates in frequency equals to fRF 2fIF for LO < fRF or at fRF+ 2 fIF
for LO> fRF, that interferer will be down-converted to the IF band of interest,
interrupting the desired signal and reducing the selectivity and sensitivity of
the system.

Receiver Architecture
Super-Heterodyne Receiver
Image problem- low side injection.
LO signal
DownInterferers
image converted
appears
signal
at fIF
Interfere
@ fRF-2fLO

Desired Signal
Upconverted
signal

Receiver Architecture
Super-Heterodyne Receiver
Advantages

Immunity to LO leakage and interferer leakage.

Negligible mismatch between I and Q channels because I&Q split is done after
the second mixer where the IF is low enough.

Pitfalls:

Requires more external components, not suitable for SoC.

More complicated in design.

Image problem while image rejection is not easily achievable.

Receiver Architecture
Direct conversion Receiver

(Zero-IF

receiver)

A simple structure where the signal is directly down-converted to zero or very

low IF.

Simple LNA and channel selection filters are replaced with LPF.

Receiver Architecture
Direct conversion Receiver

(Zero-IF

receiver)

Advantages:

Solve the problem of image.

LNA doesnt have to drive a 50 Ohms load since there are no Image
Rejection BPF.

Suitable for full integration.

Suitable for multi-standard if programmable LO frequency and LPF are

used.

Receiver Architecture
Direct conversion Receiver

(Zero-IF

receiver)

Disadvantages:

DC offset [added DC voltage to the signal causing distortion and losses].

Even order distortion.

Flicker noise.

LO leakage.

Self-mixing[adds undesired signal at zero IF].

Receiver Architecture
Quasi-IF Receiver

To solve the problems of Direct-conversion- receivers.

The signal is down-converted to a very low IF.

Image problem is re-introduced!

Receiver Architecture
Digital-IF Receivers

The signal is down-converted to intermediate frequency IF.

Then it is converted to digital using ADC.

The second down-converting and demodulation are performed

in digital domain effectively.

Receiver Architecture
Digital-IF Receivers
design issues:

Adjacent interferers or blockers are directly added to the ADCs input,

so a wide dynamic range is required in the ADC to prevent ADC saturation by

high power level blockers and to sense the very low level signal.

To relax the image problem, IF cannot be very low.

If the signals BW is comparable to the IF, Low Pass ADCs are used instead of
band pass.

To relax the requirements, subsampling is used.

Subsampling Receiver
THEORY AND DESIGN

Subsampling:

Subsampling is the process of sampling a signal with a frequency lower

than twice the highest signal frequency, but higher than two times
the signal bandwidth, the signal is down-converted by subsampling
instead of mixing.

Subsampling:
selecting subsampling frequency

Where:

fs

: Subsampling frequency.

BW

fc

m : number of replicas between 0Hz and (fc-BW/2).

: signal bandwidth.

: carrier frequency.

Subsampling:
selecting subsampling frequency
appropriate value for fs is
An

Here, choosing an odd value for m ensures that a replica of the signal is
produced at fs/4, which results in a larger subsampling frequency
bandwidthand relaxes the filtering requirements after the sampling-andhold stage.
While using even value for m will generate the low-frequency aliasing of the
signal at 3fs/4 and degrade the signal quality.

Subsampling:
Architecture

Because carrier, subsampling,

and intermediate frequencies
are all related, there is a
trade-off between bandwidth
and subsampling frequency.

Subsampling:

The effect of selected subsampling frequency, which results in the presence

of 2nd order effects.

Specifications.

Specifications

Specific requirements:

Programmable gain.

Programmable tuning over bands of

interest.

Programmable bandwidth.

Resources reuse whenever

applicable.

Multi-band Frequency synthesizer.

General requirements:
High dynamic range.
High sensitivity.
High selectivity.
Over all supported standards!

Input
Output

Specifications

The specifications of MS radio

should meet the requirements of
all the supported standards in
the common parts, as the UWB
LNA, Mixers, etc.

Depending on the specifications

and blocking profiles, the
system requirements are
extracted by using the
equations in the next slide.

Specifications Equations

BW: Bandwidth.

C/N: Carrier to Noise Ratio.

PN: Phase Noise.

NF: noise figure.

SIR: Signal-to-Interferer ratio.

Safety margin is considered after calculating the system requirements.

GSM
Global System for Mobile
communications.
REQUIREMENTS.

GSM

Global system for mobile

communications.

Was developed by theEuropean

Telecommunications Standards
Institute(ETSI) to describe the
protocols for second-generation (2G)
digitalcellular networksused by
mobile phones, first deployed in
Finland in July 1991.

GSM frequency plan

As of 2014it has become the default

global standard for mobile
communications - with over 90%
market share, operating in over 219
countries and territories. [Wikipedia]
Specifications

GSM
intermodulation test

The intermodulation test specifies a

Gaussian minimum shift keying (GMSK)
signal 3 dB above the sensitivity level has
to be detectable in presence of a 49-dBm
continuous wave and a 49-dBm GMSK
modulated interferer placed at 800- and
1600-kHz frequency offset from the
desired signal, respectively.
Therefore, the required third-order input
intercept point (IIP3) is -18 dBm.

-49dBm
GMSK
signal
@fo1.6
MHz

-49 dBm
tone
@fo0.8 MHz
-99 dBm
Desired
signal
@fo

GSM
AM suppression test

GMSK is used as modulation in GSM. This modulation form has a DC

peak making it vulnerable to DC offset problems.[Ref]

This test was introduced in order to avoid receiver desensitization in

presence of a GMSK pulse jammer, as produced by the on/off-switching
signal on another carrier.

a -99-dBm desired signal has to be correctly demodulated in

presence of a -31-dBm AM modulated interferer.

IIP2> 2PAM noise floor.

IIP2 > +49 dBm.

Challenging.

GSM
Receiver Requirements
Parameter

Value

Sensitivity

-102 dBm, with BER<10-4

Max Noise figure

9dB @200 kHz BW

Antenna referred noise floor

-111 dBm

IIP3

-18 dBm

IIP2

+49 dBm

LO tuning range

60 MHz

LO Phase Noise (PN)

-141 dBc/Hz.

Problems:

Sensitive to the 1/f noise of the CMOS in the zero-IF receiver.

Image effect in the low-IF receiver.
Very high IIP2.

UMTS
Universal Mobile
Telecommunications System.

UMTS

Universal Mobile Telecommunications System.

Athird generationmobile cellular system for networks based on

theGSMstandard.

UMTS useswideband code division multiple access(W-CDMA) radio access

technology to offer greater spectral efficiency and bandwidth to mobile network
operators.

It uses WCDMA for better spectrum using efficiency.

The WCDMA coded signal modulates the carrier using QPSK.

The code used in the receiver should be well synchronized with the one used in
coding the signal in transmitter.

UMTS
frequency plan

In the user equipment side:

TX : from 1920 to 1980 MHz.

RX: from 2110 to 2170 MHz.

Signal BW: 8 - 384 kHz.

Code BW: 3.84 MHz, FIXED.

Channel spacing: 5 MHz.

TX-RX spacing: 135 MHz.

Data rates:

384 kbps outdoor.

Up to 2 Mbps indoor.

UMTS
Out-of-Band Intermodulation
testThe transmitter leakage is responsible for

intermodulation products due to third-order

nonlinearity, together with an out-of-band
continuous wave interferer.

In the worst case, these two interfering signals

are placed, respectively, 135 and 67.5 MHz
apart from the receive band.

Since the desired signal power is 3 dB above the

sensitivity level in presence of out-of-band
interferers and the noise level is -99 dBm, the
upper limit for the third-order intermodulation
product is set at -99 dBm as well. The required
out-of-band IIP3 , evaluated at the receiver
input, is given by -4.6 dBm.

-49dBm
GMSK
signal
@fo135
MHz

-40 dBm
tone
@fo67.5
MHz

-99dBm
Desired
signal
@fo

UMTS
In-band Intermodulation test

-46 dBm continuous wave and a -46 dBm

WCDMA-modulated interfering signal, placed
10 and 20 MHz apart from the desired signal
carrier frequency.

The resulting antenna referred in-band IIP3

requirement is -17 dBm.

Notice that, while the in-band requirement

demands high linearity throughout the receiver
(including the baseband circuits), the out-ofband specification mainly affects the RF frontend because the interferers can be strongly
attenuated at the down-converter output, at
least in the zero-IF or low-IF architectures.

-46dBm
GMSK
signal
@fo20
MHz

-46 dBm
tone
@fo10
MHz

-99 dBm
Desired
signal
@fo

UMTS
Receiver Requirements

From the standard specifications and blocking profile the receiver

requirements are calculated as following
Parameter

Value

Sensitivity

-117

Max Noise figure

6.15 dB

Antenna referred noise floor

-99 dBm

IIP3

-4.6 dBm

IIP2

+46 dBm

LO tuning range

60 MHz

LO Phase Noise (PN)

-150 dBc/Hz. &135MHz offset.

Bluetooth
ISM BAND SHORT RANGE COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE.

Bluetooth

A low-cost, low-power communication protocol designed for shortrange radio connectivity between electronic devices, invented by 1999.

Operates on the ISM (Industrial-Scientific-Medical) 2.4 GHz frequency

band which is license-free worldwide.

Using FHSS (Frequency-Hopping-Spread-Spectrum) has the advantage

of interferer immunity.

Channel BW: 1-MHz.

Modulation scheme: Binary Frequency Shift Keying (BFSK) with

Gaussians shaping filter.

The Gaussian-shaped BFSK signal has most of its energy in

approximately 200 kHz (3-dB bandwidth) so that a zero-IF CMOS
solution would require some effort to address 1/f noise.

Low-IF receiver is selected because it allows very good sensitivity with

low power consumption. Commercially, a 1 or 2 -MHz IF is chosen.

Bluetooth
Receiver Specifications

Tx maximum power: 0, 4, 20 dBm for a

range of 10-50 m.

Receiver sensitivity: -70 dBm.

BFSK allows the use of limiters and

analog demodulators which are more
power efficient.

21- dB SNR for 10-3 maximum BER.

23-dB Noise Figure.

VCO tunable range 2.4-2.48 GHz.

-15 dBm IIP3 with -39 dBm interferers

and -64 dBm received signal.

Low-IF receiver architecture is selected

because the 1/f noise problem,

Low IF receiver

Analog
Demodulato
r

Wireless LAN
HIGH-RATE WIRELESS NETWORK CONNECTIVITY.

WLAN
IEEE 802.11 Standard

Formalized in 1999, to allow high-rate wireless communication

between personal computers and workstations, avoiding the
use of expensive and bulky wires.

IEEE 802.11 had a maximum 2Mbps using FHSS or DSSS in the

2.4 GHz ISM band.

IEEE 802.11a has up to 54 Mbps in the 5GHz band.

IEEE 802.11b extended the throughput of IEEE 802.11 to reach

11Mbps.

IEEE 802.11g supports up to 54Mbps in the 2.4 GHz ISM band,

supporting the IEEE 802.11b standard.

WLAN
IEEE 802.11a-1999

Operates on the UNII ( Universal Networking information

infrastructure):

UNII-1&2 : From 5.15GHz to- 5.35GHz: for indoor and outdoor

use.

UNII-3 : From 5.725GHz to- 5.85 GHz for outdoor use only.

Each UNII band provides four 16.6MHz OFDM modulated nonoverlapping channels.

OFDM [orthogonal frequency division multiplexing] is used for its

high spectral efficiency and reduced multipath inter-symbolinterference.

IEEE 802.11a
Receiver Requirements

The most stringent receiver requirements are set in the 54Mbps

mode.
Parameter

Value

Frequency band

5.15GHz to- 5.35GHz :

in/outdoor.
5.725GHz to- 5.85 GHz :
outdoor.

Channel BW

16.6MHz

Sensitivity

-65

Max Noise figure

7.5 dB

Signal-to-receiver-noise ratio

28 dB

1-dB compression point

-20 dBm

LO tuning range

20-40 MHz

LO Phase Noise (PN)

-102 dBc/Hz. &1MHz offset.

IEEE 802.11a
Receiver Requirements

OFDM modulation has a hard requirements to achieve. Receiver should

has low NF less than other standards at more than twice the operating
frequency.

The baseband/IF chain is also challenging because of the large

bandwidth and high SNR.

For zero-IF receiver, it is required to have low 1/f noise corner frequency
and HP filtering frequency to avoid signal corruption. While the training
time for DC cancellation is much smaller than 802.11b, only 8Sec.
Many commercial 802.11a receivers are using zero-IF architecture.

For low-IF receivers, DC offset cancellation is not a huge problem

because the edges of the channel dont carry information, and image
suppression required is lower than zero-IF. The main disadvantage is the
higher power consumption.

WLAN
IEEE 802.11b-1999

Operates on the ISM licence-free 2.4:

2.4835 GHz band.

Channel bandwidth: 14MHz.

Two operation modes: 5-11 Mbps

The most challenging is the 11Mbps

mode, whose spectral efficiency is
0.78 bps/Hz.

IEEE 802.11b
Linearity parameters

-30 dBm continuous wave interferer or a

-35 dBm adjacent signal interferer, placed
30 and 25 MHz apart from the desired
signal carrier frequency.
The CW interferer sets the receiver 1-dB
compression point to -26 dBm taking a 4dB
safety margin.
It also sets the LO Phase noise to -103
dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset with a VCO tuning
range of 80 MHz.

-30dBm
tone@fo3
0 MHz

-35 dBm
adjacent
signal
@fo25
MHz

-70 dBm
Desired
signal
@fo

IEEE 802.11b
Receiver Requirements
Parameter

Value

Frequency band

2.4-2.4835 GHz

Channel bandwidth

14 MHz

Sensitivity

-76 dBm

Max Noise figure

14.8 dB

Signal-to-noise ratio

11.5 dB

1-dB compression point

-26 dBm

LO tuning range

80 MHz

LO Phase Noise (PN)

-103 dBc/Hz. &1MHz offset.

The most stringent receiver requirements are set in the 54Mbps mode.

for IEEE 802.11b can be implemented by the zero IF receiver, where the dc
offset problem is solved using HP filter and 1/f noise is integrated over the band of
interest.

WLAN
IEEE 802.11g-2003

IEEE 802.11g is an improvement to the IEEE 802.11 specification that

extended throughput to up to 54 Mbit/s using the same 2.4 GHz band
as 802.11b.

802.11g hardware is fully backwards compatible with 802.11b hardware

In an 802.11g network, the presence of a legacy 802.11b participant

will significantly reduce the speed of the overall 802.11g network.

802.11g suffers from the same interference as 802.11b in the already

crowded 2.4GHz range.

802.11g receivers have to meet the most critical requirements set by

802.11b and 802.11a.

However, the 1-dB compression point is set to -10dBm in the receiver

low-gain mode.

IEEE 802.11b/g
channels.

To prevent interference, there are only three non-overlapping

usable channels in the U.S. and other countries with similar regulations
(channels 1, 6, 11, with 25 MHz separation), and four in Europe (channels
1, 5, 9, 13, with only 20 MHz separation)

Zero-IF receiver architecture is efficiently used for IEEE 802.11g.

IEEE 802.11n - 2009

Its purpose is to improve network throughput

over the two previous standards802.11a and
802.11g, with a significant increase in the
maximum net data rate from 54 Mbit/s to 600
Mbit/s by using MIMO [Multiple-input Multipleoutput].

Channel bandwidth increased from 20 MHz to

40 MHz which, besides using MIMO, increase
the transfer rate of the system.

IEEE 802.11n allows up to 44:4 MIMO.

Data rates up to 600Mbit/s are achieved only

with the maximum of four spatial streams using
one 40MHz-wide channel.

IEEE 802.11a-b&g
Summary

Multi-Standard RF front-end
summary:

Multi-standard receiver can be

easly implemented by making a
transceiver for each standard, but
this will increase both the cost and
power consumption.

By carefully designed system where

sharing of hardware whenever
possible, and use of tunable,
programmable gain &
bandwidth elements are
guaranteed, the power
consumption and total cost can be
minimized.

THE END OF PART-1

References:

Toward Multistandard Mobile TerminalsFully Integrated Receivers

Requirements and Architectures, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE
THEORY AND TECHNIQUES, VOL. 53, NO. 3, MARCH 2005, Massimo
Brandolini and others.

Multi-standard radio transceiver architecture and radio frequency front

end design, The Ohio state university, Hyung Joon Kim, 2005.

Multi-Standard Mixed-Signal Transceivers for Wireless Communications

A Research Overview, Troels Emil Kolding, Aalborg University, Denmark,
December 1996.

MULTI-STANDARD CMOS WIRELESS RECEIVERS: Analysis and Design,

Consulting Editor: Mohammed Ismail. Ohio State University.