Power dividers based simplified design topology for planar microwave I-Q mixers

摘要

A simplified design topology for realising planar microwave I-Q mixers is proposed in this article. Conventional I-Q mixers utilise hybrids, vias, cross over or wire-bonds for realisation. The reported design is based on a unique arrangement of six radio frequency (RF) power dividers with simpler routing for attaining similar performances for 10% RF bandwidth and fixed local oscillator (LO) frequency. The proposed topology is demonstrated by realising a mixer at 13.5 GHz in microwave integrated circuit (MIC) technology. With +10 dBm LO power, the measured maximum RF-I and RF-Q conversion loss is 13 dB and amplitude and phase imbalances are 0.1 dB root mean square (RMS) and 4.7° RMS over 1000 MHz bandwidth. The design topology is generic and can be used for any frequency band and technology (MIC, monolithic microwave integrated circuit, RF complementary metal oxide semiconductor etc.).