A Tuneable Fully Single-Ended 39GHz to 28GHz Gilbert Micromixer for 5G Using Analog Predistortion in a 130nm BiCMOS Technology

In this paper an adjustable-resonance down-conversion Gilbert Micromixer is proposed and investigated. For the circuit realization a 130nm BiCMOS process technology is used. The Micromixer is designed for single-ended to single-ended operation. A differential to single-ended conversion at the output of the mixer is realized by using a tuneable reactive current mirror. The output power can be adjusted by adjusting the center-frequency of the reactive tunable load. In this way, the Micromixer features an almost linear tuning range for output power adjustment. Analog predistortion is used for linearity enhancement. The Micromixer is simulated, designed and measured. A S-parameter and an output power measurement shows the effect of resonance-tuning and output power adjustment. The mixer yields a broadband low-Q matching network and a simulated power conversion gain of −1dB for maximum power adjustment at 28GHz as well as a measured power consumption of 69.3mW.