ABSTRACT

Radio-communication requires that we shift a baseband information signal to a frequency or

frequencies suitable for electromagnetic propagation to the desired destination. At the
destination, we reverse this process, shifting the received radiofrequency signal back to
baseband to allow the recovery of the information it contains. This frequency-shifting
function is traditionally known as mixing; the stages that perform it, as mixers. Although
mixers are equally important in wireless transmission and reception, traditional mixer
terminology favors the receiving case because mixing was first applied as such in receiving
applications. Thus, the signal to be frequency-shifted received using antenna is applied to the
mixers RF port, and the frequency-shifting power or voltage (from a local oscillator [LO])
is applied to the mixers LO port, resulting in two outputs at the mixers intermediate
frequency (IF) port. If they wanted IF is lower in frequency than the RF signal, the mixer is a
down converter; if they wanted IF is higher than the RF, the mixer is an up converter.
Converter may also be used as a term for a single stage that simultaneously acts as mixer and
LO.
Circuit power consumption is always important, but in battery powered wireless designs it is
critical. Low cost receiver design can be achieved using microstrip patch antenna and
suitable mixer. Mixer choice may be significant in determining a systems power
consumption, sometimes in ways that seem paradoxical at first glance. For instance, a
passive mixer might seem to be a power-smart choice because it consumes no power until
we factor in the power consumption of the circuitry needed to provide the (often
considerable) LO power a passive mixer requires.
This dissertation focuses on design of front end RF receiver using modified optimized
microstrip patch antenna and single ended mixer using PIN diode. RF reception is the basic
operation in receiver. The proposed front end RF receiver includes reception with the help of
antenna and local oscillator frequency followed by down-conversion using single-ended
diode mixer and intermediate frequency at the output that can be used in communication
system. Single ended diode mixer is the simplest and oldest passive mixer. Using defected
ground structure (DGS) on microstrip exhibits low-pass response with a very broad
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attenuation band. The conventional design technique for a single ended diode mixer will be
combined with the low-pass response of DGS to overcome the leakage RF and LO as well as
other unwanted harmonics. Here the output RLC tank tuned to match IF. Here port isolation
is increased by using Wilkinson power divider. Here extensive study has been carried out on
individual elements of mixer and also on two different types of mixer means with & without
stubs.
First patch antenna with optimized dimension was studied. But it was found that it resonate
for 6 GHz instead of 3GHz. So another standard design with modification on upper
conducting plane and also on ground plane helps in achieving the acceptable value of return
loss for the design frequency.
Wilkinson power divider with and without open stubs were analyzed separately. Low pass
filter (LPF) with modification using defected ground structure and series of grounded
patches (SGP) were studied with comparison. Finally the mixer was analyzed with two
different designs. Difference is in first case using power divider with open stubs diode and
no antenna. In second case patch antenna with simple power divider and defected ground
was fabricated and analyzed. Both the simulated and measured results were presented. FR4
substrate with dielectric constant of 4.4 and height 1.56 mm was considered for simulation.
The proposed front end RF receiver fulfils many desired parameters and is a good solution
for many communication applications.

Chapter-1

INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
Increased pressure for low power, small form factor, low cost and reduced bill of materials in
such radio applications as mobile communications has driven academia and industry to
resurrect the front end RF receiver. Long abandoned in favor of the mature superheterodyne
receiver, direct conversion using front end RF receiver has emerged over the last decade or
so thanks to improved semiconductor process technologies and astute design techniques.
Front end receiver comprises of printed microstrip patch antenna and mixer design. In radio
communications, a radio receiver is an electronic device that receives radio waves and
converts the information carried by them to a usable form. It is used with an antenna. The
antenna intercepts radio waves (electromagnetic waves) and converts them to tiny alternating
currents which are applied to the receiver, and the receiver extracts the desired information.
The receiver uses mixer for down conversion of signals picked up by the antenna and lower
frequency input and finally gives the desired intermediate frequency signal.
Mixer used in receiver is an essential component of almost all receivers used in
communication, radar and radio astronomy applications. Radio Frequency (RF) mixing is
one of the key processes in RF technology and RF design. RF mixing converts signals to
different frequencies and thereby allowing the signals to be processed more effectively. The
mixer can be passive or active. Passive mixer uses diode while active mixer uses transistor
or FETs. Active mixer can provide power gain as well as extra noise. Passive mixer
generally makes the power loss while keeps the S/N level. Properly designed active mixers
can achieve somewhat lower noise figures than diode mixers; most systems can tolerate a
relatively noisy mixer, so the diode mixer's loss and noise are rarely a significant
disadvantage. Mixer is used as up-convertor in transmitter and as a down-convertor in
receiver. In a down-conversion mixer, the other input port is driven by the RF signal, and
the output is at a lower IF intermediate frequency. In up-conversion mixer, the other input is
the IF signal and output is the RF signal. There are many different types of mixer. The
dissertation focuses on design of single ended mixer using PIN diode that is a non linear
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device, square law device. This mixer provides design simplicity, low power dissipation due
to a single device operation and low noise figure. Single ended diode mixer uses only one
diode to produce the required frequency components. The Single-diode Mixer is particularly
simple in its design and can achieve a broad bandwidth. Single ended diode mixer is used in
cost critical applications such as radio and TV receiver. Mixer requires two inputs of two
different frequencies and the output is frequency that is different from both the inputs. LO
and RF signals are mixed by diode non-linearity. This type of mixer finds applications in
speed guns, shopping centre door openers, where the transmitted signal is used as LO for the
received signal. The resulting IF signal is the difference frequency, which is due to speed of
the car being detected or the speed of a person moving towards the door. Single ended diode
mixer requires diplexer to separate high frequency RF and LO signal from the low frequency
IF signal. For low cost consumer application the diplexer in this case is kept fourth order low
pass filter. No single RF mixer will be able to operate at all frequencies. The circuit
construction of components will determine the range over which the RF mixer can operate
and the performance of the front end RF receiver.
1.2 Scope of Work
Dissertation proposes design of front end RF receiver using microstrip rectangular patch
antenna and single ended passive microstrip mixer. Mixer include design of Wilkinson
power divider, and low pass filter and Point Contact Diode (PIN) diode. Each element of
mixer is analyzed separately using simulation and measured results. Finally a complete
mixer circuit is simulated using Ansofts Serenade and fabricated mixer performance is
evaluated). Modified microstrip patch antenna composed of defected ground, slotted patch,
feed point variation and some optimization. Wilkinson power divider of equal ratio with
defected ground structure (DGS) and some compensation is used as combiner of two
different signals at RF and LO input terminals. Maximally flat Low pass filter with cut-off
frequency of 3GHz is used as element of mixer. The low-pass filter must pass the
intermediate IF frequency and stop the RF signal and the LO frequency. Return loss value is
minimized using DGS and SGP on LPF. For selecting the mixing diode have to look for the
cut-off frequency of the diode, for series resistance Rs and junction capacitance Cj.
Minimizing both Rs and Cj is necessarily to achieve low conversion loss and distortion, but
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they are inverse trade-offs. Simulation is done using PUFF, PCAAD, IE3D and Ansofts
Serenade software for various parameters. FR4 substrate with dielectric constant of 4.4 and
height 1.56 mm was considered for designing.
1.3 Objective
1. Design microstrip patch antenna for reception of RF signal providing desirable
response. Combining antenna and mixer resulting in the proposed RF receiver.
2. Choose a suitable diode for the application. Factors affecting this choice include
operating frequency, available LO drive, cost versus performance trade-offs and
package style.
3. Design the IF filter. In addition to having low insertion loss it is important that it
presents a high input impedance at the LO and RF frequencies.
4. Design the Wilkinson power divider for mixing RF and LO inputs that gives isolation
between the two inputs. Some modification is required to suppress higher order
harmonics.
5. Design single ended diode mixer with simple divider and divider using stubs
separately. This is needed for comparative study to find the best option.
6. Finally combining each element for the design of a front end RF receiver.

1.4 Organisation of Dissertation

The work basically is on the fabrication of the front end RF receiver using microstrip patch
antenna and single ended (Radio Frequency) RF mixer .The dissertation is divided into
seven chapters.
Chapter 1 It is an introductory chapter that explains about the importance of this dissertation,
objective, and scope.
Chapter 2 Deals with the literature review for the presented work done and examined a
comprehensive background of other related research works for which so many IEEE papers
and other referred journals are contributed which relate to the present work with recent
research work going on worldwide and has assured the consistency of the work performed.

Chapter 3 Presents receiver introduction, the mixer basics, fundamental mixer parameters,
diode mixer that should be considered in the design and use of PIN diode in mixer
fabrication. The various steps for designing are described.
Chapter 4 Describes about various elements of mixers like microstrip patch antenna,
Wilkinson power divider and low pass filter (LPF) .Waves on microstrip, fundamental
parameters of antenna, three port theorem for divider, broad view of designing filter. Along
with this all the software used has been discussed. The basic concepts, working principles,
its unique properties have also been discussed.
Chapter 5 In this discussion about different types of substrate, explanation of computer aided
design procedure, discussion on antenna designing and optimization with defected ground
technique, low pass filter designing and applying various approach resulting modified filter
design and discussion of design of simple power divider and using stubs.
Chapter 6 In this Simulated and measured results for optimized antenna, modified LPF,
modified power divider are presented. Also simulation and measured response for mixer
with power divider using stubs and defected ground, LPF with defected ground and PIN
diode is presented. Final fabricated mixer & its various simulation and measured results are
reported. Simulated and experimental outcomes are compared. A comparison is made
between different designs for different parameters.
Chapter 8 finally, gives recommendations on further work and concluding remarks on the
dissertation.