3 V GSM base station RF receivers using 0.25 /spl mu/m BiCMOS

The design of receiver front-end for cellular base stations is more challenging than for handsets due to the simultaneous requirement of sensitivity and linearity. These base-station RFIC receivers are for both GSM900 and DCS1800 systems. The receiver chips achieve low noise figure and high IP3 simultaneously without any gain control. The chips are fabricated using a 0.25 /spl mu/m BiCMOS process with inductor Q of approximately 10. With 3 V supply, current consumption is 132 mA for the GSM900 receiver and 117 mA for the DCS1800 receiver. This is the first silicon-integrated radio front end for base stations reported to date.