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The complete analysis of the nonlinearity requirements of a WCDMA direct conversion (Zero-IF) receiver is presented. This paper focuses on IP2 and IP3 requirements and covers all test cases defined in 3GPP, such as TX leakage, Intermodulation, Adjacent channel blocking, Narrow band blocking, In-band and Out of band blocking etc. The two tone IP2 and IP3 concept is further expanded into modulated signals. The formulas for computing IP2 and IP3 with modulated signals for different test cases are presented.

The typical operation of analog VGA’s is to use dc voltage as the “variable” to control the amplification and hence overall signal level. This type of VGA typically requires a driver circuit to control the voltage swing but benefits in the ability to achieve fi ner degrees of attenuation and typically a much wider dynamic range.

Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) is a very useful tool for designing transitions such as the transition between coaxial connectors and PC boards. The TDR function will display the impedance over time showing the place and nature of discontinuities that are due to impedance changes. This paper discusses the aspects of TDR measurements that are relevant to the analysis of a transition.

Upcoming generations of radio access standards are placing high demands on the RF transmit chain, requiring significant improvements in size, integration, and functionality while improving power efficiency for multimode wireless devices. To date, trends in RF integration have been to add redundant circuits to accommodate new standards, packing more complexity into the circuit, and then shrinking it. However, this approach often requires a necessary compromise in performance and yield, with physical limits in terms of overall size reductions. A new approach is needed that incorporates a streamlined architecture to accommodate the additional levels of complexity due to multimode functionality, while improving efficiency, yield, and size, and meeting regulatory compliance.

This article describes the super-regenerative receiver (SRR), a device widely used in short distance telemetry and remote control applications. The difficulty in modeling the regenerative behavior served as the basis for “cut and try” methodology based on results obtained from the simplified model using a conventional approach. This work presents the SRR behavior to practical implementations by dynamically controlling the injection-mode levels of the super-regenerative oscillator (SRO) for optimum sensitivity and dynamic ranges.

The Mobile Communications industry is currently developing standards and solutions for the next steps in the evolution of mobile networks. This introduction looks at the fundamental radio and network technologies being introduced in these steps, and how this is aligned into the future Fixed Mobile convergence (FMC) of the Next Generation Networks.

Commercial radio technology has reached an inflection point, similar to the transition from analog to digital, when we invented a whole range of digital technology; now we’re moving from single carrier technologies, where we transmit one digital symbol at a time, to a new paradigm, where we’re potentially transmitting hundreds of symbols simultaneously.

In this paper, Part 3 of our three-part series on 3G/4G multimode handsets, the authors will examine the fundamental challenges engineers face when designing front ends to be multi-band and multi-standard across different modulations.

Radar signal generation and processing techniques are growing ever more advanced. These advances are being driven by the need to improve resolution (the ability to detect targets that are very close together) and reduce radar spectrum occupancy.