A fully integrated MIMO multiband direct conversion CMOS transceiver for WLAN applications (802.11n)

802.11n is the latest offering from the IEEE standard committee tasked with enabling and enhancing WLAN systems. This standard utilizes several techniques to offer a much larger rate versus range than the legacy WLAN systems. A single-chip multiband direct-conversion CMOS MIMO transceiver (2x2) targeted for WLAN applications is presented. This transceiver is capable of satisfying the requirements of the draft 802.11n standard and achieves PHY rates of > 270 Mb/s. The receivers and transmitters achieve an EVM of better than -41 dB (0.9%) and -40 dB (1.0%) operating in legacy g and a modes, respectively. From a 1.8 V supply and with both cores operating, the chip draws 275 mA in RX mode and 280 mA in TX mode.