The present disclosure generally relates to the field of receiver structures in radio communication systems and more specifically to passive mixers in the receiver structure and to a technique for converting a first signal having a first frequency into a second signal having a second frequency by using a third signal having a third frequency. A passive mixer for converting a first signal having a first frequency into a second signal having a second frequency by using a third signal having a third frequency comprises a cancellation component 220 for generating a first cancellation signal for cancelling second order intermodulation components by superimposing the first signal weighted by a cancellation value on the third signal; and a mixing component 231 having a first terminal 232 for receiving the first signal, a second terminal 234 for outputting the second signal, and a third terminal 236 for receiving the first cancellation signal, wherein the mixing component 231 is adapted to provide the second signal as output at the second terminal 234 by mixing the first signal provided as input at the first terminal 232 and the first cancellation signal provided as input at the third terminal 236.

The disclosure relates to technology for shifting a frequency range of a signal. In one aspect, a circuit comprises a frequency mixer, a frequency synthesizer configured to generate an oscillator signal, a programmable driver, and a controller. The programmable driver is configured to receive the oscillator signal from the frequency synthesizer and to provide the oscillator signal to the oscillator input of the frequency mixer. The programmable driver is configured to have a variable drive strength. The controller is configured to control the drive strength of the programmable driver based on a frequency of the oscillator signal to adjust a rise time and a fall time of the oscillator signal at the oscillator input of the frequency mixer.

The present disclosure provides an apparatus that includes a first mixer circuit configured to convert between an RF signal and an IF signal based at least in part on an local oscillator (LO) signal. The first mixer circuit is electrically coupled to a first node that is configured to receive the LO signal and a first bias voltage, a second node that is configured to receive the RF signal or the IF signal, and a third node that is configured to provide the IF signal or the RF signal. The apparatus further includes a second mixer circuit electrically coupled to a fourth node configured to receive the LO signal and a second bias voltage, the second node, and the third node. The second bias voltage has a voltage level that is offset from the first bias voltage.

A passive mixer may include an output coupled to a next stage circuit. The output may be coupled to baseband inputs via first switches. The passive mixer may further include a tunable capacitor bank. The tunable capacitor bank may be coupled via second switches to the baseband inputs.

A passive mixer may include an output coupled to a next stage circuit. The output may be coupled to baseband inputs via first switches. The passive mixer may further include a tunable capacitor bank. The tunable capacitor bank may be coupled via second switches to the baseband inputs.

Systems, methods, and circuitries are disclosed for generating a desired signal from a received signal. In one example a signal cancellation system includes local oscillator (LO) downconverter circuitry, frequency offset (FO) signal estimation circuitry, and cancellation circuitry. The LO downconverter is configured to downconvert the received signal using an LO signal having an LO frequency to generate a downconverted received signal. The FO signal estimation circuitry includes FOLO generation circuitry configured to modify the LO signal to generate a FOLO signal having an offset frequency that is different from the LO frequency and FOLO downconverter circuitry configured to use the FOLO signal to downconvert a signal derived from the received signal to generate a downconverted FO signal. The cancellation circuitry is configured to cancel either the downconverted received signal or the downconverted FO signal from the received signal to generate the desired signal.

A novel and useful apparatus and method for an image-interferer aware single quadrature RF downconversion (SQRD) low intermediate frequency (LIF) receiver and related power reduction techniques utilized therein. The invention applies zero-margin adaptive transceiver (ZMAT) design principles to considerably reduce the receiver's power consumption in an adaptive fashion in accordance with the instantaneous reception conditions. In a low IF dual-branch (i.e. quadrature) downconversion receiver, the radio monitors the image strength and shuts off the receiver's Q branch (or I branch) when image rejection is not needed (i.e. when the relative image strength is below a threshold), thus significantly reducing power consumption in the RF receiver. A zero IF receiver is switched to a SQRD low IF receiver of lower power consumption when the image interferer strength is low enough to allow for a given required level of performance.

A unit cell for a resistive mixer includes a plurality of active devices arranged in series, wherein each of said plurality of active devices having a different output conductance. A resistive mixer includes a plurality of active devices connected in series with one another to form a unit cell.

A novel and useful apparatus and method for an image-interferer aware single quadrature RF downconversion (SQRD) low intermediate frequency (LIF) receiver and related power reduction techniques utilized therein. The invention applies zero-margin adaptive transceiver (ZMAT) design principles to considerably reduce the receiver's power consumption in an adaptive fashion in accordance with the instantaneous reception conditions. In a low IF dual-branch (i.e. quadrature) downconversion receiver, the radio monitors the image strength and shuts off the receiver's Q branch (or I branch) when image rejection is not needed (i.e. when the relative image strength is below a threshold), thus significantly reducing power consumption in the RF receiver. A zero IF receiver is switched to a SQRD low IF receiver of lower power consumption when the image interferer strength is low enough to allow for a given required level of performance.

A novel and useful apparatus and method for an image-interferer aware single quadrature RF downconversion (SQRD) low intermediate frequency (LIF) receiver and related power reduction techniques utilized therein. The invention applies zero-margin adaptive transceiver (ZMAT) design principles to considerably reduce the receiver's power consumption in an adaptive fashion in accordance with the instantaneous reception conditions. In a low IF dual-branch (i.e. quadrature) downconversion receiver, the radio monitors the image strength and shuts off the receiver's Q branch (or I branch) when image rejection is not needed (i.e. when the relative image strength is below a threshold), thus significantly reducing power consumption in the RF receiver. A zero IF receiver is switched to a SQRD low IF receiver of lower power consumption when the image interferer strength is low enough to allow for a given required level of performance.