A 1024-QAM Analog Front-End for Broadband Powerline Communication Up to 60 MHz

• Published in: IEEE journal of solid-state circuits Vol. 44; no. 5; pp. 1477 - 1485
• Main Authors: Bauwelinck, J., De Backer, E., Melange, C., Torfs, G., Ossieur, P., Xing-Zhi Qiu, Vandewege, J., Horvath, S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.05.2009; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Active filter; Amplifiers; analog front-end; Applied sciences; Attenuation; Attenuation measurement; Bandwidth; BiCMOS integrated circuits; Broadband; Broadband communication; Channels; Circuit properties; Dynamic range; Electric, optical and optoelectronic circuits; Electronic circuits; Electronics; Errors; Exact sciences and technology; filter tuning; Frequency division multiplexing; Frequency filters; Frequency measurement; Germanium silicon alloys; Low pass filters; low-noise amplifier; Mathematical analysis; mixer; Noise levels; powerline communications; Silicon germanides; Silicon germanium; transceiver; variable gain amplifier; Vectors (mathematics); Semiconductor alloys; High performance; Frequency dependence; Quadrature amplitude modulation; powerline communications; analog front-end; Low noise amplifier; Direct conversion receiver; Mixers (circuits); filter tuning; Frequency division multiplexing; Variable gain amplifier; Transceiver; BiCMOS technology; Power consumption; Wide band; Tunable filter; Active filter; mixer; Low pass filter; Root mean square value; low-noise amplifier
• ISSN: 0018-9200; 1558-173X
• DOI: 10.1109/JSSC.2009.2017008

A high performance analog front-end (AFE) for broadband powerline communication between 1.6 and 60 MHz is presented. The frequency division multiplexing AFE supports optimum channel selection, avoids disturbing RF signals and allows co-existence with other users of the spectrum. The direct-conversion receiver operates linearly up to a + 18 dBm input level. Tunable low-pass filters, integrated into the receive path, support a wide class of service requirements by channel bandwidth selection. The dynamic range is 99.5 dB for 2 MHz channels, and 90.5 dB for 16 MHz channels. Error vector magnitude measurements are presented for a single-carrier 1024-QAM and a 1024-carrier 64-QAM signal as function of frequency and channel attenuation. For 1024-QAM, the error vector magnitude (EVM) is below or equal to 1.2% rms up to 60 dB of attenuation, whereas the 1024-carrier 64-QAM performs well up to 80 dB of attenuation. The presented chip was fabricated in a 0.25 mum SiGe BiCMOS process, and the measured power consumption from a single 2.5 V supply is 668 mW.