MMIC receiver front-end for 15 GHz urban link

The design and performance of a MMIC (monolithic microwave IC) receiver front-end for an urban link in the 15-GHz band are described. This front-end replaces a waveguide mixer and will improve system performance. It is implemented in two MMIC chips: a three-stage LNA (low-noise amplifier) with a gain of 23 dB and a noise figure of 3 dB and a FET image rejection mixer with a conversion gain of 3 dB and 15 dB of image rejection. These results were obtained after the first processing iteration in a foundry. Using this front-end, the overall noise figure of the receiver will be about 4 dB.<>