Noise considerations for mixed-signal RF IC transceivers

This paper discusses design trade-offs for mixed-signal radio frequency integrated circuit (RF IC) transceivers for wireless applications in terms of noise, signal power, receiver linearity, and gain. During air wave transmission, the signal is corrupted by channel noise, adjacent interfering users, image signals, and multi-path fading. Furthermore, the receiver corrupts the incoming signal due to RF circuit non-linearity (intermodulation), electronic device noise, and digital switching noise. This tutorial paper gives an overview of the design trade-offs needed to minimize RF noise in an integrated wireless transceiver. Fundamental device noise and the coupling of switching noise from digital circuits to sensitive analog sections and their impact on RF circuits such as frequency synthesizers are examined. Methods to minimize mixed-signal noise coupling and to model substrate noise effects are presented.