A simple algorithm for specs definition in wireless receivers

This paper presents a system-level design procedure for wireless receivers, which allows an optimum distribution of the specifications-per-stage along the receiver. The main idea hereby developed is to start from a specific set of requirements (given by the selected telecommunications standards) in terms of bit-error-rate (BER) and blocker mask scenario in frequency domain, and to finally achieve a certain set of specifications for each stage in the receiver chain (i.e., LNA, mixer, baseband and ADC). The proposed system-level design algorithm allows fixing the receiver specifications-per-stage with a reduced set of equations and successive iterations. Moreover, an optimum design for baseband section (i.e., complex filter and the ADC) is also found, by achieving an optimum trade-off between filter order and ADC equivalent-number-of-bits (ENOB). In order to validate the hereby proposed algorithm, a low-energy Bluetooth low-IF receiver has been modeled and simulated (by Simulink), and extensive time-domain simulation results have been provided, complying with the expected Bluetooth standard signal-to-noise-and-distortion ratio (SNDR).