An integrated GPS receiver with synthesizer and downconversion functions

An integrated circuit for the GPS (Global Positioning System) receivers has been developed which includes, on one chip, an L-band downconversion function and an LO (local oscillator) synthesizer function with a phased-locked loop. The downconversion function contains an L-band amplifier, active mixer and IF (intermediate frequency) amplifier. The synthesizer function comprises a voltage-controlled oscillator, a prescalar, a phase/frequency detector and a loop amplifier. The chip also contains output buffers for three frequencies generated by the synthesizer, and on-chip power regulation. This IC advances the level of integration for ICs operating at the L-band frequencies used by GPS. The authors report on the design, performance, packaging and testing techniques. >