Balanced mixer
AssigneeMACOM Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc.
InventorJean-Marc Mourant
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems, circuits, and methods for mixing signals are provided. An illustrative circuit may include mixer circuitry including multiple inputs and at least one output, where the multiple inputs are connected across a local oscillator. The circuit may further include a terminal Radio Frequency (RF) output circuitry that is isolated from the local oscillator, where the at least one output of the mixer circuitry is directly connected to an input of the terminal RF output circuitry. The circuit may further include terminal Intermediate Frequency (IF) output circuitry that is isolated from the local oscillator, where the at least one output of the mixer circuitry is directly connected to an input of the terminal IF output circuitry.
Claims20
A circuit, comprising:
- mixer circuitry comprising multiple inputs and at least one output, wherein the multiple inputs are connected across a local oscillator, wherein the mixer circuitry further comprises a pair of Field Effect Transistors including a NMOS transistor and a PMOS transistor, and wherein a drain of the NMOS transistor and a drain of the PMOS transistor are connected to one another and coincide with ground;
- terminal Radio Frequency (RF) output circuitry that is isolated from the local oscillator, wherein the at least one output of the mixer circuitry is directly connected to an input of the terminal RF output circuitry;
- and
- terminal Intermediate Frequency (IF) output circuitry that is isolated from the local oscillator, wherein the at least one output of the mixer circuitry is directly connected to an input of the terminal IF output circuitry.
A system, comprising:
- a local oscillator;
- a mixer comprising a first input, a second input, and at least one output, wherein the first input and the second input are both connected to the local oscillator, wherein the mixer further comprises a pair of Field Effect Transistors (FETs) including a first transistor and a second transistor, and wherein a drain of the first transistor and a drain of the second transistor are connected to one another and coincide with ground;
- and
- one or more output circuits connected to the at least one output of the mixer, wherein the one or more output circuits are isolated from the local oscillator, and wherein the one or more output circuits extract one or both of Radio Frequency (RF) components and Intermediate Frequency (IF) components from the at least one output of the mixer.
A method, comprising:
- connecting a mixer across a local oscillator, wherein the mixer comprises a pair of Field Effect Transistors (FETs), and wherein a drain of each FET of the pair of FETs is connected to one another and coincides with ground;
- connecting a first output circuit directly to an output of the mixer;
- connecting a second output circuit directly to the output of the mixer;
- enabling the first output circuit to extract Radio Frequency (RF) components from the output of the mixer;
- enabling the second output circuit to extract Intermediate Frequency (IF) components from the output of the mixer;
- and
- isolating both the first output circuit and the second output circuit from the local oscillator using passive components.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.