A G/sub m/-C low-pass filter for zero-IF mobile applications with a very wide tuning range

A third-order G/sub m/-C Butterworth low-pass filter implementing G/sub m/-tuning and G/sub m/-switching to maximize the tuning range is described. This filter is intended to be used as a channel-selection/anti-aliasing filter in the analog baseband part of a zero-IF radio receiver architecture for multimode mobile communications. Its G/sub m/-switching feature allows extending the tuning range and adapting the power consumption. The filter's cutoff frequency ranges from 50 kHz to 2.2 MHz. An Input IP3 of up to +18 dBV/sub p/ is achieved, for a total worst-case power consumption of 7.3 mW for both I and Q paths, and an effective area of less than 0.5 mm/sup 2/ in a 0.25-/spl mu/m SiGe BiCMOS process. A new figure of merit is introduced for comparison of published low-pass tunable filters including noise, linearity, and tuning range.