How tough are the front-end requirements for 4G-and-beyond handsets?

Due to the interrelation of different stages within the handset receiver, it is often desired to have clear requirements for the RF receiver front-end. However, the LTE standard specifies only the system-level performance, and extracting the receiver's front-end requirements is not straightforward given the complexity of current standards. These front-end requirements are important to make the right technology choice. In this paper a clear overview of the required calculations and their results is given, treating the noise figure, selectivity/blocking and cross- and intermodulation requirements. This avoids the need to perform system-level simulations in the early design stage and provides the designer with insight on the impact of the RF receiver front-end on the system-level performance. The results are related to the technology choice, where it is shown that SiGe and GaAs can achieve both the required sensitivity and linearity. To the best of the authors' knowledge this is the first time that such an overview is given and applied to determine a suitable technology. The requirements for 5G systems are expected to be more stringent, making the already tough requirements for 4G even tougher for future systems.