Personal communications transceiver architectures for monolithic integration

The proper combination of architecture and integration concept will decide the success of a transceiver realization. The authors discuss three realization concepts of monolithic integrated transceivers: (i) a modular multichip solution, (ii) a dedicated few chip solution and (iii) a single chip solution of full custom library modules. The authors compare them with respect to size, power consumption, and production cost. Applied to heterodyne and direct conversion transceiver architectures, they find that direct conversion is more complex but superior for integration and cost. They present first-time experimental results of a prototype 1.5 GHz fully integrated direct conversion transceiver chip that uses a VCO at twice the required LO frequency for reduction of DC offset. A novel, mainly digital high-dynamic-range limiting baseband detector complements a direct conversion solution.