An Inductorless Downconversion Mixer with 24.2-dB CG, 8.2-dB NF, 350-μW Power, and 50-Hz Flicker-Noise Corner Frequency at -5-dBm LO

This paper presents an inductorless downconversion mixer that achieves high conversion gain, low noise, and an ultra-low flicker-noise corner frequency with sub-mW power consumption. Designed and laid out in a 65-nm CMOS, the proposed architecture reuses current in complementary branches and employs a dedicated current-bleeding path whose noise is actively canceled by the switching devices. Thus, the presented structure achieves low noise while facilitating high gain performance. Moreover, by turning off the switches at local oscillator (LO) zero crossings, both direct and indirect flicker-noise mechanisms are attenuated without requiring inductors. Post-layout simulations at 2.4 GHz show a conversion gain of 24.2 dB, a noise figure of 8.2 dB with a flicker noise corner frequency of ~50 Hz, an IIP3 of -20 dBm, while operating with a -5-dBm LO, from a 1.5-V supply and consuming 350 μW. The design has compact active area of 0.0234 mm².