Design of a high-linearity up-conversion mixer for wireless body area sensor network applications

Utilizing TSMC 0.18 μm CMOS technology, this research presents a 5.8 GHz up-conversion mixer with chip size only 1.01 mm × 0.85 mm for wireless body area sensor network. The major characteristics of the proposed mixer circuit, including the linearity (input third order intercept point, IIP3) and power conversion gain (CG) can be improved by adopting the LO body-grounded, gm-boosting and current-bleeding techniques. A high linearity (12 dBm IIP3), high power CG (6.2 dB), and low power consumption (6.6 mW at 1.2 V voltage) of the implemented up-conversion mixer chip are demonstrated in this study.