GaAs JFET front-end MMICs for L-band personal communications

The development of GaAs JFET (junction field-effect transistor) low noise and low distortion amplifier and mixer MMICs (monolithic microwave integrated circuits) for front-end use in L-band personal communications is discussed. These MMICs can be operated by a 3.0-V single biasing supply with a very low current dissipation of 4.0 mA. In order to achieve excellent low intermodulation distortion, a current-mirror active biasing circuit using enhancement-mode JFETs and a resistive mixing configuration have been realized. >