An Active High Conversion Gain W-Band Up-Converting Mixer for Space Applications

This paper presents an active W-band up-converting double-balanced Gilbert mixer realized in 800 nm transferred substrate (TS) InP-DHBT technology. It consists of an active balun and a frequency doubler followed by a double-balanced Gilbert cell mixer. The local oscillator (LO) of the mixer operates from 39 to 45 GHz with an input power of less than 3 dBm. The mixer achieves a single sideband (SSB) conversion gain of $\mathbf{8}\ \mathbf{dB}\pm \mathbf{2}\ \mathbf{dB}$ in the frequency range 75 … 96 GHz. The measured output 1 dB compression $(\mathbf{OP}_{\mathbf{1}\mathbf{dB}})$ reaches −7 dBm and −8.5 dBm at 75 GHz and 86 GHz, respectively. The up-converter offers more than 15 GHz IF bandwidth, at a DC consumption of only 80 mW.