A technique to improve noise figure and conversion gain of CMOS mixers

This article introduces a technique to improve both the flicker noise and white noise of CMOS mixer. Demonstrated for single balanced case, but can be used in the double balanced circuit as well. Simulation results reveal about 7 dB reduction in flicker noise at the 10 kHz frequency as well as a 4 dB improvement in the white noise floor. This method simultaneously increases the mixer conversion gain by about 5 dB. These improvments have been achieved without any penalty in power consumption, while IIP3 has reduced negligibly.