Sub-mW Current Re-Use Receiver Front-End for Wireless Sensor Network Applications

In this paper, a receiver front-end tailored to Bluetooth Low Energy applications is presented. In the proposed solution, the LNA, mixers, VCO, quadrature scheme and the first stage of the analog base-band share the same bias current under a 0.8 V voltage supply leading to a sub-mW power consumption. A channel selection filter, implemented through a current re-use gm-C topology, completes the design. The presented prototype, realized in 130 nm CMOS technology, occupies an active area of 0.25 mm2while consuming only 0.6 mW. With a NF of 15.8 dB, an IIP3 of -17 dBm at the maximum gain and an image rejection above 30 dB the receiver front-end meets BLE noise figure, image rejection, phase noise and linearity requirements.