Ultra-wideband transmitter design based on a new transmitted reference pulse cluster

Abstract

This study presents an energy efficient ultra-wideband (UWB) transmitter based on the novel transmitted reference pulse cluster (TRPC) modulation scheme. The TRPC-UWB transmitter integrates wideband active baluns, a wideband IQ modulator based on up-conversion mixers, and a differential-to-single-ended converter. The integrated circuits of the TRPC-UWB front end are designed and implemented in a low-cost 130-nm CMOS process. The measured worst-case carrier leakage suppression is 22.4 dBc, whereas the single sideband suppression is greater than 31.6 dBc, operating at a frequency from 3.1 to 8.2 GHz. With an adjustable data rate of 10 to 300 Mbps, the transmitter achieves good energy efficiency of 38.4 pJ/pulse and a maximum current consumption of 24.5 mA from a 1.2-V power supply.

Keywords

• Ultra-wideband (UWB)
• Transmitted reference pulse cluster
• IQ modulator
• CMOS