A compact monolithic C-band direct conversion receiver

A compact monolithic C-band direct conversion receiver has been implemented in a commercial 0.6 μm GaAs MESFET process. Subharmonic mixing is utilized to suppress even-order intermodulations and eliminate DC offsets. Second-order input intercept point (IIP2) of +17 dBm, third-order input intercept point (IIP3) of +8 dBm, and DC offset of -80 dBm are measured on wafer without the use of additional off-chip components. This receiver occupies a die area of 35×53 mil
²
and operates on 2.7 V with 21 mA of DC current. This is the first demonstration of a C-band direct conversion receiver MMIC with excellent linearity, DC offset, and DC power consumption.