Digitally-Controlled RF Passive Attenuator in 65 nm
`CMOS for Mobile TV Tuner ICs
`
`Ahmed Youssef and James Haslett
`
`Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
`University of Calgary
`Alberta, Canada
`
`Abstract—A novel VHF/UHF passive attenuator linearization
`circuit suitable for mobile TV applications has been designed
`and implemented in 65 nm CMOStechnology. The proposed
`attenuator has a wide gain range of 48 dB that can be digitally
`programmedin 3 to 6 dB steps. At every gain setting, the input
`and output of the attenuator are matched to 50 © to facilitate its
`integration into mobile TV tuners.
`
`I.
`
`INTRODUCTION
`
`Mobile TV is one ofthe latest features to be added to cell
`phonesandother hand-held devices. The low cost, low power,
`and small size demands of this application have pushed
`researchers to use nanometer CMOStechnologies in designing
`high performance tuner chip sets. The bulky RF filters (e.,
`SAW filters) usually used in traditional TV-can tuners to
`suppress far-awayinterferer blockers are thus not an option for
`these integrated tuners. This results in tightening the linearity
`requirement of the RF front-end needed for mobile TV
`reception, and hence demands innovative design techniques to
`adhere to the low powernecessities for this application[1].
`
`The RF-AGC (Automatic gain control) technique has
`been proposed recently in the literature as one of the low
`powersolutions that can help mobile TV receivers achieve
`their stringent linearity requirements [2]-[4]. Decreasing the
`RF gain at large mput signal levels helps the receiver pass
`larger signals without any degradation in the output SNR
`(Signal-to-Noise Ratio). Although there are many mechanisms
`to vary the RF gain in receivers, the efficacy of any given
`mechanism depends on the amount of the dynamic range that
`can be achieved while decreasing the RF gain.
`
`This paper proposes an RF attenuator linearization circuit
`used to vary the RF gain of mobile TV receivers while
`maximizing their dynamic range. The paper describes a
`passive attenuator designed, implemented in 65 nm CMOS
`technology and characterized in the lab. Additionally, a 5 bit
`linear thermometer decoder[5] integrated in the sametest chip
`is used to program the gain of the attenuator. The decodersets
`the gain value according to the signal level received at the
`attenuator input. Also, an on-chip programmable matching
`network is used to provide a stable 50 © input resistance
`
`Edward Youssoufian
`
`Newport MediaInc.
`Lake Forest, California, USA
`
`RFin
`
`(a)
`
`
`RFin RF Attenuator
`
`
`
`(b)
`
`Figure 1. RF gain control through a) a variable gain LNA or through b) RF
`programmable passive attenuator.
`
`to the mobile TV antennaforthe entire gain range.
`
`This paper is organized as follows. Section II discusses the
`advantages of using passive gain control over active gain
`control (1.e., Variable Gain (VG) LNA) to vary the RF gain of
`a mobile TV receiver. Section III presents the proposed RF
`attenuator design and demonstrates somepractical issues dealt
`with in its integration with the rest of the mobile TV system.
`Measurement results are given in Section IV, and finally
`Section V drawsthe conclusions.
`
`II.
`
`PASSIVE GAIN CONTOL VERSUS ACTIVE
`GAIN CONTROL
`
`There are several ways to achieve gain control in RF front-
`ends. Fig. la shows a VG-LNAusedto control the RF gain,
`while Fig. 1b shows a programmable passive attenuator used
`to control
`the RF gain. Both techniques are capable of
`preventing a receiver from clipping at large input signal levels
`and, in theory, either one can be used to boost the linearity of a
`mobile TV tuner. However,
`the difference between them
`becomesclear when the recetver dynamic range (DR)1s taken
`into consideration. Having the attenuator control (passive
`control) the RF gain results in a DR value that is far superior
`to
`that
`achieved when
`gain
`is_
`controlled
`by
`a VG-LNA (active control), especially at
`the
`higher
`
`978-1-4244-5309-2/10/$26.00 ©2010 IEEE
`
`1999
`
`INTEL 1009
`
`

`

`=~
`
`Attenuator IIP3
`
`Clippinglevel for the
`LNAandthe attenuator
`~~~
`
`Sey ~=
`
`LNAIIP3 couldlimit the
`receiverIIP3
`
`=~.
`
`
`
`Power,dBm
`
`Dynamic range decreases
`nearly 25 dBin case of
`LNAgain control method
`
`oa Sensitivity
`
`Gain, dB
`
`
` RFout
`
`Figure 2. Simulation results show the impact ofusing the active gain control
`methodversus the passive gain control on a receiver dynamic range.
`
`attenuation (lower gain)settings.
`
`The simulation results shown in Fig.2 illustrate the impact
`of using passive versus active gain control on receiver DR.In
`this simulation, the DR is assumedto be limited by third order
`nonlinearity (IIP3). When passive gain control is used, the
`clipping level and the system IIP3 improve by one dB for
`every one dB increase in the attenuation, and the dynamic
`range value is preserved. However,at certain gain settings (Y
`in Fig. 2), the system IIP3 will be limited by the attenuator
`IIP3 and therefore the DR will start to decrease. Passive gain
`control results in higher DR value than active control due to
`the fact that LNAs are generally less linear than attenuators,
`and thus DR decreases much earlier when gain is controlled
`by a VG-LNA(X in Fig.2). Therefore, using the attenuator to
`control
`the RF gain in this case maximizes the receiver
`dynamic range.
`
`II. RF PROGRAMMBLE PASSIVE ATTENUATOR
`
`The design of an RF attenuator suitable for use m mobile
`TV applications presents
`several
`challenges. Such an
`attenuator has to achieve certain characteristics so that it can
`protect the RF performance of a mobile TV receiver in the
`presence of interferer blockers as high as 0 dBm. Typically,it
`should provide from 40 dB to 50 dB gain rangeinsteps of 3-6
`dB [6]. Also, it should have a 50 Q input impedanceto allow
`maximum powerto transfer from the antenna or to provide the
`right termination for the GSM SAW filter. Additionally, it
`should provide a 50 © output matching so that it would not
`affect
`the LNA noise figure [7]. The input and output
`matching should remain constant throughout the entire gain
`range of the attenuator.
`
`A. Binary Weighted Passive Attenuator
`The design of the binary weighted attenuator network is
`shown in Fig. 3. The value of R = 50 Q was chosensothat the
`output matching to the LNA would be verified for every
`attenuation setting. There are eight control bits (vcont7-
`vcont0) to program the attenuator for different gain settings.
`
`Control Logic
`
`Figure 3. RF passive attenuator with the input matching network.
`
`These control bits can be set in a thermometer code fashion in
`order to achieve 6 dB attenuation steps. The highest gain
`setting (-6 dB) is whenall control bits are set HIGH andthe
`lowest (-48 dB) is when they are set LOW. An enable bit
`1s
`included to
`activate
`the
`attenuator path when
`it
`is
`necessary to improve the receiver linearity. All bits control
`the gates of NMOS switch transistors. Switch sizes were
`selected to minimize the off-state capacitance while still
`providing a sufficiently small
`resistance in the on-state
`compared to the resistance bemg switched. Although the
`binary weighted attenuator achieves the required gain range
`and also achieves the output matching requirement, it still
`needs to provide the matching to the mobile TV antenna.
`
`A programmable matching network (shown in Fig. 3) was
`added at the input of the attenuator to provide the required
`input matching at different gain settings. This network can be
`programmed by two bits called m0 and ml (see Table I).
`Adding the matching network modifies attenuation values of
`the binary weighted attenuator. However, as shown in Table I
`the attenuation step of 3 dB to 6 dB can still be achieved.
`
`2000
`
`

`

`TABLEL
`
`THE GAIN VALUES OF THE RF ATTENUATOR INCLUDING THE INPUT MATCHING
`
`Input
`Matching
`
`Decoder
`Input
`
`Thermometer Decoder Output
`
`ml
`
`eRBEEREOCOOO
`
`meeeReRPrCOCCOO
`
`A
`<4:0>
`
`—edano)
`
`enable
`
`ReePRRRPeeroO
`
`veont
`7
`
`cocooooococrx*
`
`veont
`6
`
`cocooocoooocorex
`
`veont
`5
`
`cooooocorrrex
`
`veont
`4
`
`cooooorrrex
`
`B.
`
`veont
`3
`
`
`
`cOoOCOORRHEHEDM
`
`veont
`2
`
`SOORR,RHEHEmM
`
`veont
`1
`
`SOFRRHEHEHEmM
`
`veont
`0
`
`OrFRREHHEEmM
`
` (dB)
`
`
`The Attenuator Bandwidth
`Integrating the designed attenuator linearization circuit
`with the LNA requires some design modifications to avoid
`any undesirable interactions between the two. Connecting the
`attenuator to the LNA might create different DC paths for the
`LNAthrough the MOS switches M1, M2, and M3 (shown in
`Fig. 3) which might result
`in severe degradation of its
`performance. Therefore, AC coupling capacitors (C1, C2, and
`TABLE I|MEASUREMENT RESULTS SUMMARY.
`C3) are added to the attenuator to avoid any disturbances in
`the operating points of the LNA devices. It is of note that the
`capacitance values of these capacitors would set the lower
`frequency limit of the attenuator, which would be the VHF
`frequency for the mobile TV applications.
`
`65 nm CMOS
`0.05 mm”
`12V
`48 dB
`5.8 dB
`NZ
`The proposed RF attenuator was fabricated in 65 nm
`~ 3-6 dB
`CMOStechnology. The MOSswitches were designed taking
`<-12 dBm
`their “on resistance” and their parasitic capacitance into
`<-13 dBm
`consideration. The N-well-based MOS cap was used to
`In-band|max|.+25.3 dBm
`implement
`the attenuator AC coupling caps to save the
`(uP3)|min|+23 dBm
`receiver die area. To support the VHF band, 70 pF and 30 pF
`capacitances were chosen for the attenuator (C3) and the
`matching network caps
`(C1&C2)
`respectively. The RF
`attenuator die photo is shown in Fig. 4. The fabricated chip
`consumes 0.05 mm?’ofsilicon.
`
`Figure 4. Die photograph of the proposed RF attenuator.
`
`IV. MEASUREMENTS RESULTS
`
`Power supply
`Noise Figure
`(NF)
`
`Oneof the most critical measurements for the attenuatoris
`the third order nonlinearity (IIP3) since the recerver DR might
`be limited by this value at lower gain settings. A two-tone test
`was conducted by applying two tones that were spaced by 4
`The attenuator die was characterized in the lab. The HP
`MHz.Fig.8illustrates a two-tone test measurement for one of
`8753D network
`analyzer was
`used
`for S-parameter
`the attenuator gain settings (-6 dB gam mode). The IIP3 is
`measurements. The output matching of the attenuator to a 50
`calculated to be +25 dBm. The same test was conductedfor all
`Q resistance was tested by measuring S,,. Fig. 5 shows the
`gain settings of the attenuator. It was noticed that the IIP3
`measured S,, for different gain code settings across the UHF
`values degraded by | dB to 2 dB at lowergainsettings (shown
`band. Measured values of S,. were less than -13 dB for all
`in Fig. 9). The measurement results of the RF passive
`gain settings across the UHF band. The sametest was repeated
`attenuator are summarized in TableII.
`to evaluate the attenuator input matching to a 50 © source
`resistance. Measured values of S,,; were less than -12 dB for
`all gain settings across the UHF bandas shown in Fig.6.
`
`Noise analysis was conducted using the noise mode ofthe
`Agilent E4408B spectrum analyzer. Fig. 7 shows the NF
`measurements of the attenuator for all gain settings across the
`UHF band. The loss of the SMA connectors and the coax
`cable ranging from 0.7 dB to 1.2 dB was removed from the
`measurement. The NF measurements
`agree with the
`attenuation values reported in Table I.
`
`V.
`
`CONCLUSION
`
`linearization circuit has been
`A novel RF attenuator
`proposed to overcome the shortcomings of having the VG-
`LNA alone control
`the mobile TV front-end gain. The
`attenuator designed in 65 nm CMOStechnology enables a low
`power, highly linear, wide dynamic range front-endrealization
`with low noise figure at sensitivity level. The attenuator
`design can be scaled to any application that requires a wide
`dynamic range RF front-end.
`
`2001
`
`

`

`
`
`
`
`code 14. 400.0
`
`
`NF,dB
`
`480.0
`
`560.0
`
`640.0
`
`720.0
`
`800.0
`
`Frequency, MHz
`
`Figure 5. Measured output matching (S»2) for different gain code settings.
`The frequency was swept from 400 MHz to 800 MHz.
`
`
`
`Gain Codes
`
`
`
`
`
` -10
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`—@— coded
`—m—code 1
`—» code 2
`—<— code 3
`—K-— code 4
`—@—code 5
`$22,
`
`_
`(dB)
`—t— code 6
`S11, }|—++code}
`
`(dB:
`—= code 7
`( 45
`——.code 8
`code 9
`code 10
`A code 11
`code 12
`code 13
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`-10
`
`
`
`TSHettFSS
`
`
`480.00
`560.00
`640.00
`720.00
`Frequency, MHz
`
`Figure 6. Measured input matching (Sj) for different gain codesettings.
`The frequency was swept from 400 MHz to 800 MHz.
`
`ToneLevels[inputreferred],dBm
`
`20
`
`°
`
`N3
`
`&Ss
`
`fonSo
`
`
`
`
`
`IP3 ~ + 25.5dBm
`
`
`
`
`0
`
`10
`Input Level, dBm
`
`20
`
`30
`
`Figure 7. Measured NFfor different gain settings.
`
`Figure 8. Linearity measurement for (-6 dB) gain mode.
`
`26
`
`25.5
`
`25
`IP3, dBm
`24.5
`
`24
`
`23.5
`
`23
`
`22.5
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`1
`
`2
`
`3
`
`4
`
`5
`
`6
`
`7
`
`8
`
`Code
`
`Figure 9.
`
`IIP3 measurementfor different gain modes.
`
`REFERENCES
`
`(1)
`
`[2]
`
`[3]
`
`[4]
`
`[5]
`
`[6]
`
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`
`2002
`
`