A highly integrated wideband millimeter-wave MMIC converter using 0.25- mu m P-HEMT technology

A highly integrated wideband converter that was designed to upconvert the entire 6- to 18-GHz input RF frequency band to a 22-GHz intermediate frequency using a 28- to 40-GHz local oscillator (LO) is described. The circuit was designed using 0.25- mu m pseudomorphic HEMT technology. The converter incorporates a three-stage RF amplifier, a three-stage LO amplifier, and an active balanced mixer, all integrated on a chip 96 mil*96 mil in size. The upconverter monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) has an average of 10-dB conversion gain across the full 6-18-GHz input band.<
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