A CMOS Transmitter Front-End for Mobile UHF RFID Reader

Abstract

This paper describes a 900MHz CMOS transmitter front-end for mobile UHF RFID reader including an I/Q upmixer for frequency translation from IF to RF and a driver amplifier for signal pre-amplification. The proposed up-mixer can realize all the three modulation schemes specified in EPC Global C1G2 protocol. The driver amplifier can offer a sevenclass adjustable conversion gain through a 3-bit gate bias control. Fabricated in IBM 0.18μm CMOS process, the transmitter frontend consumes a minimum current of 14mA from a 1.8V power supply. The experimental results show that the up-mixer achieves -4.9dBV rms IIP3, 3.18dB conversion gain and 13.20dB NF, and the DA features 13.5dBm OIP3 at 50Ω, 7.90-16.30dB conversion gain variation and 3.10-5.00dB NF range.