2.4-GHz-Band CMOS RF Front-End Building Blocks at a 1.8-V Supply

摘要

This paper describes 2.4-GHz-band front-eng building circuits-adown conversion mixer (DCM), a dual- modulus divide-by-4/5 prescaler,a transmit/receive antenna switch (SW), a power amplifier (PA), and alow noise smpli- fier (LNA). They are fabricated using a standardbulk 0.18μm CMOS process with a lower current consumption thanbipolar Circuits, and can operate at the low supply voltage of 1.8 V.Meshed-shielded pads are adopted for lower receiver circuit noise.Pads shielded by metals become cracked when they are bounded,Therefore silicided active areas are used as shields instead of met- Also to avoid these cracks.