IntroductiontoMixers

Michael Ellis, All Rights Reserved, 1999

More Tutorials

Mixersareusedforfrequencyconversionandarecriticalcomponentsinmodernradio
frequency(RF)systems.AmixerconvertsRFpoweratonefrequencyintopowerat
anotherfrequencytomakesignalprocessingeasierandalsoinexpensive.Afundamental
reasonforfrequencyconversionistoallowamplificationofthereceivedsignalata
frequencyotherthantheRF,ortheaudio,frequency.Areceivermayrequireasmuchas
140decibels(dB)ofgain.Itmightnotbepossibletoputmorethan40dBofgainintothe
RFsectionwithoutriskinginstabilityandpotentialoscillations.Likewisethegainofthe
audiosectionmightbelimitedto60dBbecauseofparasiticfeedbackpaths,and
microphonics.Theadditionalgainneededforasensitivereceiverisnormallyachievedin
anintermediatefrequency(IF)sectionofthereceiver

Theidealmixer,representedbyfigure1,isadevicewhichmultipliestwoinputsignals.If
theinputsaresinusoids,theidealmixeroutputisthesumanddifferencefrequencies
givenby

(1)

Typically,eitherthesum,orthedifference,frequencyisremovedwithafilter.

Figure2showsthefrontendforanamplitudemodulation(AM)superheterodyneradio
withatunedRFsectionthatallowsonlythepreselectedRFfrequencytotheinputofthe
mixer.Figure3improvesthefrontendimagerejectionbyaddinganadditionaltunedRF
circuit.Assumingthedesiredstationistransmittingat1490KHz,withahighsidelocal
oscillator(LO)of1945KHz,andanIFof455KHz,thenastationtransmittingat2400
KHzwouldalsoconverttoanIFof455KHz,interferingwiththedesiredstation,ifthe
2400KHzsignalwerenotfilteredoutpriortothemixerinput.InatypicalAMradio,the
frontendistunedsimultaneouslywiththeLOataconstantdifferenceof455KHzover
theentireAMradiobandof5501600KHz.
Figure1.Circuitsymbolforamixer

Figure2.Superheterodyneradiofrontend

Figure3.SuperheterodyneAMradiofrontendwithimprovedfrontendfiltering
Thisrequiresaspeciallyconstructeddualgangedvariablecapacitortotunebothsections
simultaneouslyandretainaconstant455KHzdifference.TypicallytheLOsectionofthe
gangedvariablecapacitorwillhavefewerplatesthantheRFamplifiersection.Thistype
ofgangedvariablecapacitoriscalledthecutplatecapacitorbecausetheLOsection
platesarecuttopermittrackingoftheLOwiththeRF.Theundesiredfrequencyof2400
KHziscalledtheimagefrequencyandmustbeeliminatedpriortoconversion.The455
KHzIFfiltereliminatesthesumfrequencyof3435KHzwhichcontainsredundant
information.

FMradios,whichtuneover88108MHz,usuallydonotusea455KHzIFfrequency
sincetheimagefrequencywouldbeonly910KHzfromthedesiredFMstation.Itwould
bedifficulttodesignatunedRFamplifierinthe88108MHzrangethatrejecteda
stationonly910KHzawayfromthedesiredsignalsince910KHzisonlyabout1%
differentinfrequencythanthedesiredFMstation.AnIFof10.7MHzisnormallyused
inFMradiostoallowadequateimagerejectiontobeachievedbythetunedRFamplifier
inthe88108MHzbandwithreducedselectivitybecauseofthehigherIFbandwidth
associatedwitha10.7MHzIFfilter.Thedoubleconversionreceiveroffigure4is
appropriateforVHFnarrowbandAMorFMoperationandusesa10.7MHz1stIFfor
goodimagerejection,anda455KHz2ndIFforgoodselectivity.

Thedoubleconversionreceiverinfigure5doesnotrequireatunableRFstagetotrack
thetunableLObecausethefirstIFof830MHzcausestheimagefrequenciestobe
outsidethebandpassofthe030MHzinputfilter.Thistechniqueofcommonlyusedin
communicationgradereceivers,CATVtuners,andspectrumanalyzers.

Thedirectconversionreceiveroffigure6suffersfromseveraldisadvantages.Itdoesnot
haveanintermediatefrequency(IF)stage.ThepurposeofanIFstageistoallow
additionalamplificationatannonharmonicallyrelatedfrequencythatwillnotfeedback
intotheRFinputandcauseoscillation.Thegainofthedirectionconversionreceiveris
thereforelimitedtothegainofanyRFamplifiersprecedingthemixer,andanyaudio
amplifiersfollowingthemixer.AMandSSBcanbedemodulated,butnotFM.Thereis
usuallysignificantLOfeedthroughatthedesiredfrequencywhichcancauseundesired
beatsintheaudiooutputforAMsignals.

Inreality,mixersproducemorethanjustthesumanddifferencefrequencies.The
intermodulationproductsaregivenbyIF=N*RFM*LOandtheirlevels,relativeto
thedesiredoutputofRFLO,foracommonmixer,areshownintable1.

Intable1,thespuriousoutputsarerelativetothedesiredoutputatRFLO.Thefirst
harmonicoftheRFinputsignalfeedsthroughtotheoutputandisonly23dBdownfrom
thedesiredoutputfrequency.The

firstharmonicoftheLOfeedsthroughatonly1dBdown.Thesecondharmonicofthe
RFinput,mixedwiththefirstharmonicoftheLO(2RFLO),feedsthroughatan
amplitudeof59dBdownfromthedesiredoutput,


Figure4.Doubleconversionsuperheterodynewithgoodimagerejectionandselectivity

Figure5.DoubleconversionreceiverinaScientificAtlantaseries6700cableconverter
boxthateliminatestheneedforsimultaneouslytunedRFandLO

andsoon.Thedatagiveninaharmonicintermodulationtabledependsontherelative
levelsoftheinputsignals,thefrequencies,andtheterminatingimpedances.Fromtable1,
noticethattheSRA200mixerisapoorchoiceforthedirectconversionreceiversince
theLOleakageishigh.Alsonoticethatthefrontendofthereceiverinfigure6isnot
tuned,andwillalsohavesomeresponsetootherRFfrequenciesasshownintable1
where2RF2+LO,3RF3+LO,etc.,areequalinfrequencytothedesiredsignalat
frequencyRF+LO.

Figure7showsadioderingdoublebalancedmixerwhichisusuallydesignedwith
Schottkybarrierdiodes.GaAsdiodesaresometimesusedforoperationinthemillimeter
wavefrequencyrange.Mixerscanalsousebipolartransistors,JFETS,andGaAsFETs,
allofwhichrequireafourthportforadcvoltage.

FordownconverterstheRFinputsignalisfedtotheRFportandtheoutputistakenfrom
theIFport.Forupconvertingapplicationsusingthedioderingdoublebalancedmixer,
thelowfrequencysignalcanbefedintotheIFportandtheoutputcanbetakenfromthe
RFport.

Figure6.Directconversionreceiver

Table1

MixerHarmonicIntermodulationforMiniCircuitsSRA220,0.052000MHzmixer
Figure7.Dioderingdoublebalancedmixer

Definitions

ConversionLossistheratiooftheoutputsignalleveltotheinputsignallevelexpressed
indB.Inasinglesidebandsystem,onlyonesidebandisused;therefore3dBoflossis
theoretical.Theadditionallossisdiodeandtransformerloss.Theselossescanbe
minimizedbydrivingthediodeswithsufficientcurrentandoperatinginthebestportions
ofthefrequencybandandaregenerallybetween59dBforpassivemixers.Conversion
lossisspecifiedina50systemwithanLOdrivelevelof+7dBm.Highlevelmixers
arespecifiedwithmoreLOdrivepower.

Isolationistheamountof"leakage"or"feedthrough"betweenthemixerports.From
table1fortheSRA220mixer,theisolationbetweentheLOportandtheIF(output)port
isonly1dB,forthetestconditionsgiven.Atlowfrequencies,wherediodeparameters
canbematchedtoamuchgreaterdegreeandcircuitparasiticsarenegligible,isolation
greaterthan60dBispossible.

NoiseFigureisthesignaltonoiseratioattheinputdividedbythesignaltonoiseratio
attheoutputexpressedindB.ItdoesnotincludethenoisefigureofanIFamplifieror1/f
flickernoise.Appreciablenoisecontributionfrom1/fnoiseisnotnoticeableabove10
KHz.UseofspeciallyselectedSchottkyBarrierdiodesensuresextremelylow1/fnoise
forphasedetectionapplications.Withtherecommendeddrivelevel,thenoisefigureand
conversionlossareessentiallyidentical.

TheFriisnoisefigureequationforcascadeddevicesisgivenas

whereFisthetotalnoisefactor.AlltermsarenumericratiosandarenotindB.The
overallnoisefigureforacascade,expressedindBis

IfamanufacturerofaRFpreamplifierspecifiesthattheRFpreamphasa2dBnoise
figure,thismeansthattheactualnoisepowerattheoutputis1.58(F=1.58)timesthat
whichwouldoccurduetoamplificationofthethermalnoisefromtheinput.Ifadeviceis
passiveandlossythenthenoisefigureofthatdeviceisgenerallytakentobethesameas
itsloss.Ifotherwords,ifatransmissionlinehasa3dBloss,ithasanoisefigureof3dB.

ConversionCompressionistheRFinputlevelabovewhichtheRFversusIFoutput
curvedeviatesfromlinearity.Abovethislevel,additionalincreasesintheRFinputlevel
donotresultinequalincreasesintheoutputlevel.Conversioncompressionisnot
specifiedforalllowlevel(+7dBmLO)mixers.However,lowlevelmixersnormally
havethesamecompressionlevel,typically0.3dBdeviationfromlinearitywithanRF
inputsignalof+2dBmanda+7dBmLOdrivelevel.ThisRFlevelcanberaisedto+4
dBmifthedrivelevelisincreasedto+13dBm.Conversioncompressionforhighlevel
mixersisspecifiedsinceitsometimesprovidesanindicationofthemixer'stwotone
performanceanditislikelytobeimportantinhighleveloperation.Theinputpowerlevel
atwhichtheconversionlossincreasesby1dBiscalledthe1dBcompressionpoint.

DynamicRangeistheamplituderangeoverwhichamixercanoperatewithout
degradationofperformance.Itisboundedbytheconversioncompressionpointforhigh
inputsignals,andbythenoisefigureofthemixerforlowlevelinputsignals.Sincethe
thermalnoiseofeachpassivemixerisaboutthesame,theconversioncompressionpoint
normallydeterminesthepassivemixer'sdynamicrange.The1dBcompressionpointis
generallytakentobethetopofthedynamicrangeofamixerbecausetheinputRFpower
thatisnotconvertedintodesiredIFoutputpowerisinsteadconvertedintoheatand
higherorderintermodulationproducts.Theintermodulationproductsthatbegintoappear
whenRFpowerisincreasedbeyondthe1dBcompressionpointcanbegintoobscurethe
desiredIFoutput.Generallythe1dBcompressionpointis5to10dBlowerthantheLO
power,soahighlevelmixerhasahigher1dBcompressionpointthanalowlevelmixer,
andthereforeawiderdynamicrange.

InterceptPoint,measuredindBm,isafigureofmeritforintermodulationproduct
suppression.Ahighinterceptpointisdesirable.Twotypesarecommonlyspecified:input
;andoutputinterceptpoint(IIPandOIP,respectively).Inputinterceptpointisthelevelof
inputRFpoweratwhichtheoutputpowerlevelsoftheundesiredintermodulation
productsandIFproductswouldbeequal;thatis,intercepteachotherifthemixerdidnot
compress.AsinputRFpowerincreases,themixercompressesbeforethepowerlevelof
theintermodulationproductscanincreasetoequaltheIFoutputp;ower.So,inputand
outputinterceptpointsaretheoreticalandarecalculatedbyextrapolatingtehoutput
poweroftheintermodulationandIFproductspastthe1dBcompressionpointuntilthey
equaleachother.Ahighinterceptpointisdesirablebecauseitmeansthemixercan
handlemoreinputRFpowerbeforecausingundesiredproductgstorivalthedesiredIF
outputproduct,andessentiallymeansthemixerhasagreaterdynamicrange.Dynamic
range,1dBcompressionpoint,andinterceptpointareallinterrelated,butithasbeen
shownthat,ingeneral,nodBfordBruleofthumbexiststoeasilycorrelate1dB
compressionpointwithinterceptpoint.

Theconceptofinterceptpointcanbeappliedtoanyintermodulationproduct;however,it
normallyreferstotwotone,thirdorderintermodulationproducts.IftwoinputRFsignals
areincidentatthemixerRFport,theycausethemixertogeneratethefollowingtwotone
intermodulationproducts.

wherem1,m2,n=0,1,2,3,...,mandnareintegersandcanassumeanyvalue.Two
tone,thirdorderintermodulationproductshavethefollowingfrequencies:

TheyarecalledthirdorderproductsbecausethecoefficientsofRF1andRF2sumto
equal3.Noticethattheorderofintermodulationproductsrefersonlytocoefficientsof
theRFinputsandddoesnotincludethatoftheLO.Theorderoftheintermodulation
productisimportantbecausea1dBchangeinthepowerlevelofeachinputRFsignal
causesthepowerlevelofeachintermodulationprocuttochangebyanamountofdB
equaltoitsorder.A1dBchangeinpowerofeachofthetwoinputRFsignalscausesthe
powerlevelofeachtowtonethirdorderproducttochangeby3dB.

Inputinterceptpointisnormallyassociatedwithtowtone,thirdorderintermodulation
productsbecausethethirdorderproductisclosestinfrequencytothedesiredIFoutput
productofanytowtoneintermodulationproduct.Theevenorder,twotone
intermodulationproductsthatexitformdoubleandsinglebalancedmixersare
suppressedfarmorethantheoddorderproducts,duetomixerbalance.Oddorder
intermoduationproductscontainingevenorderLOharmonicsaresuppressedindouble,
butnotinsinglebalancedmixers.Thirdordertwotoneproductsfollowthe(m1+m2)
dBofoutputpowerto1dBofinputpowerrulemuchmorecloselythantheotherhigher
order,twotoneintermodulationproducts.Thowtoneintermodulationproductswith
ordersgreaterthan7arerarelyaproblemunlessRFinputpowercomeswithinafewdB
ofLOinputpower.

Interceptpointinnormallypresentedasshowninfigure8.Inputpowerisplottedalong
thehorizontalaxis,andoutputpowerisplottedalongtheverticalaxis.Twolinesare
plotted:onerelatingIFoutputpowertoRFinputpower,andanotherrelating
intermodulationoutputpowertoRFinputpower.

Figure8.Interceptpointdefinition

Thepointatwhichtheselinesintersectgivestheinputandoutputinterceptpointsforthe
mixerataparticularsetofinputfrequenciesforagivenLOpowerlevelandtemperature.

Asimpleformulaexistsforcalculatinginputinterceptpoint,giventehlevelof
intermodulatoinsujppression,theorderoftheintermodulation,andtheinputRFpower
levelsgivingrisetothislevelofsuppression.
Forexample,ifeachinputtonehas10dBmofpower,andthethirdorder,twotone
intermodulationsuppressionis46dBc,thentheIIPis

Also,outputandinputinterceptarerelatedbythemixerconversionloss,orgain(for
activemixers).

VoltageStandingWaveRatio(VSWR)isthemeasureofmismatchofferedtothe
systembythemixer,andisusuallyspecifiedoveragivenbandwidthasafunctionofLO
powerandtemperature.Itiscalculatedas

where

isthereflectioncoefficient,

ZListheinputimpedanceofthemixer,and

Zoisthecharacteristicimpedanceofthesystem.

SinceVSWRdoesnotincludethephaseofthereflectioncoefficient,thesystemdesigner
doesnotknowiftheinputimpedanceisaboveorbelowthenormal50characteristic
impedance.Forexample,iftheLOport

VSWRis2:1,measuredina50system,thedesignerdoesnotknowiftheLOport
inputimpedanceis25or100sinceboththeseimpedancesgiveaVSWRof2:1.
Actually,theinputimpedanceofabroadbandmixersweptoverafrequencyrangeofan
octave,ormore,usuallyrotatesthroughthelowandhighimpedances,roughlyproducing
acirclecenteredat50asviedonaSmithchart.Therefore,agivenmixerhavingaLO
VSWRof2:1overanoctavebandwidthwillhaveaninputimpedancevaryingfrom25
to100,passingthroughaninfinitenumberofcompleximpedancecombinationsasthe
LOfrequencychanges.TheVSWRoftheRF,LO,andIFportsaredirectfunctionsofthe
LOpower,whichestablishestheoperatingpointofthediodesinadioderingmixer.
ChangeintheLOpoweraltersthediodeoperatingpoint,resultinginadifferent
impedanceofallmixerports,causingacorrespondingchangeinVSWR.RFinputpower,
whichisusuallymuchlowerthanLOinputpower,doesnotappreciablychangethediode
biaspointandconsequently,haslittleaffectonVSWR.Whenthediodeimpedance
changes,theinputimpedancesofallthreeportschange.Hence,varyingtheLOpower
levelwillaffectheVSWRofallthreeports.

JosephJ.Carr,MasteringRadioFrequencyCircuitsThroughProjects&Experiments,
McGrawHill,1994

TheWatkinsJohnsonCompany,RFandMicrowaveDesigner'sHandbook,1993

Return

You are visitor number