A low LO power mixer utilizing the body effect

Abstract

We propose a single-stacked CMOS mixer that can operate at low local oscillator (LO) power condition with a new switching mechanism. Gating the body terminal makes it possible for the mixer to operate in a more ideal switching mode by utilizing the body effect. Biasing at near pinch-off region gives rise to beneficial aspect, low power dissipation. This circuit is composed of all PMOS transistors which draw only 0.275 mA from a supply voltage of 1.8 V. This circuit features gain and noise enhancement characteristic, low power consumption, and simple topology. The proposed mixer achieves conversion gain of 18 dB, noise figure of 9.1 dB with 0 dBm LO power, and power consumption as low as 0.5 mW.