Low power high linearity transmitter front-end for 900 MHz Zigbee applications

This paper presents a low power high linearity transmitter front-end for 900 MHz Zigbee applications based on 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS technology. The direct up-conversion is implemented by passive mixer which dissipates no DC current. Two stage driver amplifiers provide high enough gain as well as high linearity to drive high power signal to 50/spl Omega/ antenna while consuming small amount of current. Measurement shows 11.5 dB overall transmitter gain, 3 dBm output P1dB while dissipating 1.8mA DC current from 1.8 V supply.