Actuellement, les objets communicants sans fils occupent une place prépondérante. Pour faciliter leur utilisation, ces objets sont de plus en plus petits et nécessitent de très petites antennes. Cette miniaturisation d’antennes implique forcément une détérioration de leurs performances. La conception d’antennes électriquement petites (AEP) nécessite une très bonne compréhension théorique des mécanismes électromagnétiques mis en jeu notamment quelles limites précises peut-on atteindre pour une AEP étant circonscrive dans un volume donné. Un des paramètres essentiels d’une AEP est son facteur de qualité intrinsèque qui est inversement proportionnel à sa bande passante en impédance. Ainsi, maximiser la bande passante en impédance d’une antenne consiste à minimiser son facteur de qualité. Face à ce problème, de nombreux travaux ont été développés pour déterminer les limites possibles pour des AEP. C’est dans ce cadre que s’inscrit le premier axe de recherche de la thèse : étudier le facteur de qualité d’AEP, afin de déterminer s’il existe des dimensions optimales permettant de s’approcher de ces limites. Le second axe de recherche a consisté à étudier des AEP fonctionnant à 2,45 GHz pour des implants biomédicaux. Celles-ci sont imprimées sur de nouveaux types de substrat pour avoir une meilleure résolution de trace métallique favorisant une réduction de l’encombrement, et une intégration facilitant ainsi les interconnexions avec les frontaux RF. Le challenge consiste à maximiser les performances de ces antennes. Plusieurs prototypes ont été réalisés pour valider les simulations. / Currently, wireless devices play an important role in everyday life. For ease-of-use, these devices are becoming smaller and require very small antennas. However, the size reduction of these antennas necessarily implies a degradation of their performance. Consequently, the design of electrically small antennas (ESA) requires a very good theoretical understanding of the electromagnetic phenomenon that takes place, especially in terms of accurate performance that can be expected for an ESA with given dimensions. An important parameter of an ESA is its intrinsic quality factor since it is inversely proportional to its impedance bandwidth. Indeed, maximizing the matching bandwidth of an antenna consists in minimizing its quality factor. Facing this problem, many researches have been developed to determine the possible limits of the quality factor of ESA. The first research axis of this thesis is to study the quality factor of ESA to determine whether optimal dimensions exist to approach the fundamental quality factor limits. The second part of the thesis studies miniature antennas for biomedical implants operating at 2.45 GHz. These antennas are printed on a specific microelectronic substrate to ensure a better resolution in terms of metallic traces in order to reduce the size and allow easier integration to facilitate interconnections with RF front-end. The challenge consists in maximizing the performance of these antennas. The presented results are supported by means of electromagnetic models and simulations on one hand. Also, several prototypes are fabricated to validate these simulations.

The integration of mixed-signal systems has long been a problem in the semiconductor industry. CMOS System-on-Chip (SOC), the traditional means for integration, fails mixed-signal systems on two fronts; the lack of on-chip passives with high quality (Q) factors inhibits the design of completely integrated wireless circuits, and the noise coupling from digital to analog circuitry through the conductive silicon substrate degrades the performance of the analog circuits. Advancements in semiconductor packaging have resulted in a second option for integration, the System-On-Package (SOP) approach. Unlike SOC where the package exists just for the thermal and mechanical protection of the ICs, SOP provides for an increase in the functionality of the IC package by supporting multiple chips and embedded passives. However, integration at the package level also comes with its set of hurdles, with significant research required in areas like design of circuits using embedded passives and isolation of noise between analog and digital sub-systems. A novel multiband balun topology has been developed, providing concurrent operation at multiple frequency bands. The design of compact wideband baluns has been proposed as an extension of this theory. As proof-of-concept devices, both singleband and wideband baluns have been fabricated on Liquid Crystalline Polymer (LCP) based organic substrates. A novel passive-Q based optimization methodology has been developed for chip-package co-design of CMOS Low Noise Amplifiers (LNA). To implement these LNAs in a mixed-signal environment, a novel Electromagnetic Band Gap (EBG) based isolation scheme has also been employed. The key contributions of this work are thus the development of novel RF circuit topologies utilizing embedded passives, and an advancement in the understanding and suppression of signal coupling mechanisms in mixed-signal SOP-based systems. The former will result in compact and highly integrated solutions for RF front-ends, while the latter is expected to have a significant impact in the integration of these communication devices with high performance computing.

Spin torque oscillators (STOs) are microwave oscillators with an attractive blend of features, including a more-than-octave tunability, GHz operating frequencies, nanoscale size, nanosecond switching speed and full compatibility with CMOS technology. Over the past decade, STOs' physical phenomena have been explored to a greater extent, their performance has been further improved, and STOs have already shown great potential for a wide range of applications, from microwave sources and detectors to neuromorphic computing. This thesis is devoted to promoting the STO technology towards its applications, by means of implementing the STO's electrical model, dedicated CMOS integrated circuits (ICs), and STO-CMOS IC integration. An electrical model, which can capture magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) STO's characteristics, while enabling system- and circuit-level designs and performance evaluations, is of great importance for the development of MTJ STO-based applications. A comprehensive and compact analytical model, which is based on macrospin approximations and can fulfill the aforementioned requirements, is proposed. This model is fully implemented in Verilog-A, and can be used for efficient simulations of various MTJ STOs. Moreover, an accurate phase noise generation approach, which ensures a reliable model, is proposed and successfully used in the Verilog-A model implementation. The model is experimentally validated by three different MTJ STOs under different bias conditions. CMOS circuits, which can enhance the limited output power of MTJ STOs to levels that are required in different applications, are proposed, implemented and tested. A novel balun-low noise amplifier (LNA), which can offer sufficient gain, bandwidth and linearity for MTJ STO-based magnetic field sensing applications, is proposed. Additionally, a wideband amplifier, which can be connected to an MTJ STO to form a highly-tunable microwave oscillator in a phase-locked loop (PLL), is also proposed. The measurement results demonstrate that the proposed circuits can be used to develop MTJ STO-based magnetic field sensing and microwave source applications. The investigation of possible STO-CMOS IC integration approaches demonstrates that the wire-bonding-based integration is the most suitable approach. Therefore, a giant magnetoresistance (GMR) STO is integrated with its dedicated CMOS IC, which provides the necessary functions, using the wire-bonding-based approach. The RF characterization of the integrated GMR STO-CMOS IC system under different magnetic fields and DC currents shows that such an integration can eliminate wave reflections. These findings open the possibility of using GMR STOs in magnetic field sensing and microwave source applications. / <p>QC 20151112</p>

iv ABSTRACT DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF REDUCED SIZE PLANAR SPIRAL ANTENNA IN THE 0.5-18 GHz FREQUENCY RANGE YILDIZ, 5nan&ccedil / M.S., Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Altunkan HIZAL October 2004, 106 pages In this thesis, theoretical and practical evaluation of usual spiral antenna is revised. Working principles of both types of planar spiral antennas as Equiangular and Archimedean are introduced. A predesigned microstrip tapered balun used for feeding section of a spiral antenna is simulated on Ansoft HFSS software. Successful simulation results are obtained and measurements of implemented balun structure are made by using an HP 8722 D vector network analyzer. Antenna measurement techniques used in this study are introduced. Measurement set-ups are defined and some preliminary knowledge is given on these. As the main matter of thesis, reduced size planar spiral antennas are designed and implemented. Return loss, gain / radiation and polarization patterns of antennas are measured. Datasets of measurements are compared with each other and with reference spiral antenna. Quite promising results are obtained and size reduction of spiral antenna is achieved in many aspects.

Ink-jet printing (IJP) using conductive inks, has gained the attention of scientistsand researchers during the past decades. Solar Cells (SCs), Radio FrequencyIdentication (RFID), E-papers and antennas are only some of the applicationsfor which IJP is being applied. IJP facilitates printing complex antenna structureswith a good resolution. The use of the IJP process is compatible with devicefabrication on unusual substrates such as paper, polymer lms (Polyethylenenaphthalate (PEN), Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Polyimide (PI)), textiles,etc at low temperature. The aim of this study is to design and fabricate antennason paper substrates capable of operating at 2.4 GHz via printing technique.Simulation and experimental studies have been presented for microstrip patchantenna and dipole antenna using Itoh's balun.

The aim of this study is to analysis, investigate and find out the solutions for the problems associated with the implementations of antennas RFID Reader and Tag for various applications. In particular, the efficiency of the RFID reader antenna and the detection range of the RFID tag antenna, subject to a small and compact antenna's design configuration have been studied. The present work has been addressed directly to reduce the cost, size and increase the detection range and communication reliability of the RFID framework antennas. Furthermore, the modelling concept of RFID passive tags mounted on various materials including the novel design of RFID reader antenna using Genetic Algorithm (GA) are considered and discussed to maintain reliable and efficient antenna radiation performances. The main benefit of applying GA is to provide fast, accurate and reliable solutions of antenna's structure. Therefore, the GA has been successfully employed to design examples: meander-line, two linear cross elements and compact Helical- Spiral antennas. In addition, a hybrid method to model the human body interaction with RFID tag antenna operating at 900MHz has been studied. The near field distribution and the radiation pattern together with the statistical distribution of the radiation efficiency and the absorbed power in terms of cumulative distribution functions for different orientation and location of RFID's tag antenna on the human body have been demonstrated. Several tag antennas wi th symmetrical and unsymmetrical structure configurations operating in the European UHF band 850-950 MHz have been fabricated and tested. . The measured and simulated results have been found to be in a good agreement with reasonable impedance matching to the typical input impedance of an RFID integrated circuit chip and nominal power gain and radiation patterns.

Several microwave devices and antennas that are based on negative-refractive-index transmission-line (NRI-TL) metamaterials are presented in this thesis, which exhibit superior performance features compared to their conventional counterparts. These are a Wilkinson balun, a 1:4 series power divider, a four-element printed dipole array, a leaky-wave antenna, and an electrically small folded-monopole antenna. The Wilkinson balun employs +90° and −90° NRI-TL metamaterial lines at the output branches of a Wilkinson divider, to achieve a six-fold increase in the measured differential output phase bandwidth compared to that of an analogous balun employing transmission lines, while occupying only 55% of the area. The 1:4 series power divider comprises four non-radiating 0° NRI-TL metamaterial lines, each with a compact length of λ0/8, to provide equal power split to all four output ports. Compared to a conventional series power divider employing one-wavelength long transmission lines, the metamaterial divider provides a 154% increase in the measured through-power bandwidth, while occupying only 54% of the area. The metamaterial series power dividing concept is also applied to a four-element fully-printed dipole array that is designed to radiate at broadside, in order to demonstrate that the array exhibits reduced beam squinting characteristics. It is shown that the metamaterial-fed array has a measured scan-angle bandwidth that is 173% greater than an array that is fed using a conventional low-pass loaded line. The reduced-beam squinting property that NRI-TL metamaterial lines offer is subsequently exploited to create a leaky-wave antenna that radiates a near-fixed beam in the forward +45° direction, with an average measured beam squint of only 0.031°/MHz. This is achieved by operating the antenna in the upper right-handed band where the phase and group velocities are the closest to the speed of light. Finally, an electrically small antenna comprising four 0° NRI-TL metamaterial unit cells is presented which supports a predominantly even-mode current, thus enabling it to be modeled as a multi-arm folded monopole. This significantly increases its radiation resistance, which allows it to be matched to 50 Ω, while maintaining a high measured efficiency of 70%.

Several microwave devices and antennas that are based on negative-refractive-index transmission-line (NRI-TL) metamaterials are presented in this thesis, which exhibit superior performance features compared to their conventional counterparts. These are a Wilkinson balun, a 1:4 series power divider, a four-element printed dipole array, a leaky-wave antenna, and an electrically small folded-monopole antenna. The Wilkinson balun employs +90° and −90° NRI-TL metamaterial lines at the output branches of a Wilkinson divider, to achieve a six-fold increase in the measured differential output phase bandwidth compared to that of an analogous balun employing transmission lines, while occupying only 55% of the area. The 1:4 series power divider comprises four non-radiating 0° NRI-TL metamaterial lines, each with a compact length of λ0/8, to provide equal power split to all four output ports. Compared to a conventional series power divider employing one-wavelength long transmission lines, the metamaterial divider provides a 154% increase in the measured through-power bandwidth, while occupying only 54% of the area. The metamaterial series power dividing concept is also applied to a four-element fully-printed dipole array that is designed to radiate at broadside, in order to demonstrate that the array exhibits reduced beam squinting characteristics. It is shown that the metamaterial-fed array has a measured scan-angle bandwidth that is 173% greater than an array that is fed using a conventional low-pass loaded line. The reduced-beam squinting property that NRI-TL metamaterial lines offer is subsequently exploited to create a leaky-wave antenna that radiates a near-fixed beam in the forward +45° direction, with an average measured beam squint of only 0.031°/MHz. This is achieved by operating the antenna in the upper right-handed band where the phase and group velocities are the closest to the speed of light. Finally, an electrically small antenna comprising four 0° NRI-TL metamaterial unit cells is presented which supports a predominantly even-mode current, thus enabling it to be modeled as a multi-arm folded monopole. This significantly increases its radiation resistance, which allows it to be matched to 50 Ω, while maintaining a high measured efficiency of 70%.

This thesis focuses mostly on investigating different potential applications of meta-transmission line (TL), particularly composite right/left handed (CRLH) TL, and analyzing some new phenomena and applications of meta-TL, mostly left-handed (LH) TL. Realization principle will also be studied.   First, the fundamental electromagnetic properties of propagation in the presence of left-handed material (LHM) are illustrated. The transmission line approach for LHM design is described together with a brief review of the transmission line theory. As a generalized model for LHM TL, CRLH TL provides very unique phase response, such as dual-band operation, bandwidth enhancement, nonlinear dispersion, and the existence of critical frequency with zero phase velocity. Based on these properties, some novel applications of the existing CRLH transmission lines are then given, including a notch filter, a diplexer, a broadband phase shifter, a broadband balun, and a dual band rat-ring coupler. In the design of notch filters and diplexers, CRLH TL shunt stub is utilized to provide high frequency selectivity due to the existence of critical frequency with zero phase velocity. The proposed wideband Wilkinson balun, which comprises of one section of conventional transmission lines and one section of CRLH-TL, is shown to have a 180°±10° bandwidth of 2.12 GHz centered at 1.5 GHz. In the analysis of the dual band rat-ring couplers, a generalized formulation of the requirements about impedances and electrical length of the branches are derived, and as an example, a compact dual-band rat-race coupler is designed utilizing the balanced CRLH TL. Furthermore, a low pass filter is also proposed and designed based on a single (epsilon) negative coplanar waveguide (CPW).Various principles to realize meta-transmission lines are investigated. The main conclusions are listed below:Ÿ         Dual composite right/left handed (D-CRLH) transmission line, which is the dual structure of conventional CRLH TL, shows opposite handedness in the high frequencies and low frequencies with CRLH TL. Meanwhile, in the practical implementation, D-CRLH TL always shows a sharp stopband. A notch filter and a dual-band balun are designed based on D-CRLH TL. Ÿ         The lattice type transmission line (LT-TL) shows the same magnitude response with the conventional right-handed (RH) TL, but a constant phase difference in the phase response over a wide frequency band. A wideband rat-race coupler is proposed as an application of the LT-TL. Ÿ         Finger-shorted interdigital capacitors (FSIDCs) are analyzed and it is shown that FSIDC alone can act as a left-handed transmission line. The value of the reactive elements (inductors and capacitors) in the equivalent circuit model is determined by the dimensions of FSIDC. The relationship between them is analyzed.Later, transmission line loaded with negative-impedance-converted inductors and capacitors is illustrated as the first non-dispersive LH transmission line. The design of a negative series impedance converter is given in detail and a wideband power divider is designed as a potential application of the newly proposed meta-transmission lines in is also given. The final part of the thesis focuses on the study of microstrip lines loaded with complementary split ring resonators (SRRs). An equivalent circuit is made for this structure. The circuit model is verified by the experimental results of cases with different periodic lengths. Thereafter, a meander line split ring resonator (MLSRR) is presented. It shows dual band property and the miniature prototypes of complementary MLSRR loaded transmission lines are fabricated. By comparing the resonance frequencies of complementary MLSRR and multiple SRR, it is shown that the complementary MLSRR is very compact. C-MLSRR is applied in rejecting unnecessary frequencies in the ultra wideband antennas. / QC 20100720

Η περιοχή των ραδιοσυχνοτήτων (RF) για σχεδίαση ηλεκτρονικών κυκλωμάτων για τηλεπικοινωνιακά συστήματα αποτελεί ένα χώρο έντονης ερευνητικής δραστηριότητας. Το πρότυπο υπερευρείας ζώνης με την ονομασία Ultra Wideband (UWB), που καταλαμβάνει συχνότητες από 3.1-10.6 GHz, αποτέλεσε αντικείμενο της παρούσης έρευνας με σκοπό την σχεδίαση, κατασκευή και μέτρηση ολοκληρωμένων κυκλωμάτων με έμφαση στα κυκλώματα του μπροστινού τμήματος του UWB δέκτη. Η κατανόηση της λειτουργίας του πομποδέκτη και των παραμέτρων λειτουργίας σε επίπεδο συστήματος αποτέλεσε την αρχική προσέγγιση, με σκοπό τον καθορισμό των προδιαγραφών λειτουργίας των πιο κρίσιμων στοιχείων. Η ανάλυση έλαβε χώρα τόσο σε θεωρητικό επίπεδο όσο και σε επίπεδο εξομοίωσης και τα ηλεκτρονικά στοιχεία των υψηλών συχνοτήτων όπως είναι ο ενισχυτής χαμηλού θορύβου (Low Noise Amplifier - LNA) καθώς και ο μίκτης είναι τα πιο απαιτητικά στη σχεδίαση. Η έρευνα επικεντρώθηκε αρχικά στο κύκλωμα του ενισχυτή χαμηλού θορύβου , το οποίο ευρισκόμενο αμέσως μετά την κεραία λήψης, καλείται να ικανοποιήσει πολλές και αντικρουόμενες μεταξύ τους απαιτήσεις όσον αφορά το εύρος ζώνης, το κέρδος, την κατανάλωση ενέργειας και επιφανείας πυριτίου και το θόρυβο. Στα πλαίσια της μελέτης εξερευνήθηκαν και αξιολογήθηκαν οι υφιστάμενες τοπολογίες που έχουν εμφανιστεί στη βιβλιογραφία και επιλέχθηκαν δύο από αυτές για περεταίρω διερεύνηση. Το πρώτο ολοκληρωμένο που κατασκευάστηκε περιλαμβάνει τρεις ενισχυτές, οι δύο από αυτούς χρησιμοποιούν την τοπολογία κοινής πηγής με φίλτρο εισόδου και πηνίο στην πηγή (inductive source degeneration) και διαφέρουν στον τρόπο μέτρησης, όπου ο ένας ενισχυτής μετράται πάνω στο ολοκληρωμένο (on-wafer probing) και ο έτερος τοποθετείται σε πλακέτα (chip on board). Με τον τρόπο αυτό αποκτάται διαίσθηση όσον αφορά την επίδραση των παρασιτικών που υπεισέρχονται εξαιτίας των διασυνδέσεων των αγωγών (bondwires) μεταξύ ολοκληρωμένου και πλακέτας. Ταυτόχρονα για τον συγκεκριμένο ενισχυτή εφαρμόζεται και στρατηγική προστασίας από ηλεκτροστατικά φορτία (ESD). Ο τρίτος ενισχυτής βασίζεται στην τοπολογία ανάδρασης και αποτέλεσε προϊόν πρωτότυπης έρευνας και χρησιμοποιήθηκαν τεχνικές διεύρυνσης του εύρους ζώνης λειτουργίας με χρήση επαγωγικών στοιχείων. Οι μετρήσεις που επακολούθησαν την κατασκευή αποδείχθηκαν επιτυχείς και κατά κανόνα υπήρξε σύγκλιση με την εξομοίωση. Ο τρίτος ενισχυτής παρουσιάζει την πιο ανταγωνιστική απόδοση και είναι ικανός να λειτουργήσει μέχρι τα 7GHz. Επακόλουθο της κυκλωματικής μελέτης των ενισχυτών χαμηλού θορύβου υπήρξε η εστίαση σε επίπεδο συστήματος για την κατασκευή του συνολικού RF τμήματος του δέκτη σε ολοκληρωμένο και για λειτουργία μέχρι τα 10.6GHz. Το σύστημα περιλαμβάνει τον LNA της τοπολογίας με ανάδραση και στη συνέχεια δύο πανομοιότυπα μονοπάτια αποτελούμενα το καθένα από μίκτη, υψιπερατό φίλτρο και απομονωτή εξόδου στα 50 Ω για τις ανάγκες της μέτρησης. Ως κύριες προκλήσεις ανέκυψαν ο σχεδιασμός του μίκτη και κυρίως της διεπαφής με τον LNA, ο οποίος παρέχει σήμα μονής εξόδου ενώ ο μίκτης λειτουργεί διαφορικά. Στα πλαίσια της διατριβής προτάθηκε μια τεχνική για κύκλωμα μετατροπής μονού σε διαφορικό σήμα (balun), η οποία συνδυαζόμενη με την τοπολογία του μίκτη που επελέγη, ουσιαστικά ενσωματώνεται στο μίκτη και παρέχει διαφορικά σήματα με πολύ καλή ακρίβεια στο πλάτος και τη φάση. Το balun βασίζεται στην τοπολογία του διαφορικού ζεύγους και επεκτείνει πάνω σε αυτήν με χρήση πηνίου που στο κέντρο του παρέχει έναν τρίτο ακροδέκτη διασύνδεσης στην τροφοδοσία. Καταυτόν τον τρόπο λαμβάνει χώρα σύζευξη μεταξύ των φορτίων του balun που εγγυάται την ακρίβεια των μεγεθών που προαναφέρθηκαν. Η τεχνική υποστηρίζεται από ενδελεχή μαθηματική ανάλυση και παρουσιάζονται συγκρίσεις μεταξύ θεωρίας και εξομοίωσης με σύγκλιση μεταξύ των. Ο μίκτης που κατέληξε η έρευνα ανήκει στην κατηγορία της συνδεσμολογίας folded cascode. Δεδομένων επίσης των περιορισμών που υπήρχαν στον εξοπλισμό μέτρησης εφαρμόστηκαν τεχνικές με πιο σημαντική την τροφοδότηση των σημάτων ταλαντωτή τα οποία εσωτερικά του ολοκληρωμένου μετατρέπονται σε διαφορικά και καθοδηγούνται για αποφυγή ασυμμετριών σε ισομήκης μεταλλικές γραμμές μεταφοράς. Σε όλα τα κρίσιμα σημεία έχει προβλεφτεί στρατηγική θωράκισης των υψίσυχνων σημάτων ενώ η τοποθέτηση ενός πολύ μεγάλου αριθμού στοιχείων στο πυρίτιο υπήρξε προϊόν συγκερασμού διαφορετικών απαιτήσεων στη χωροταξία τους με πολυάριθμες τεχνικές και εμπειρικούς κανόνες να έχουν εφαρμοστεί. Η τελική προτεινόμενη αρχιτεκτονική τύπου άμεσης μετατροπής παρόλα τα σχεδιαστικά ρίσκα που είχαν ληφθεί, λειτούργησε επιτυχώς μέχρι και τα 8.5GHz επισφραγίζοντας την συνολική προσπάθεια. / The domain of RF engineering for electronic circuits, targeting the application of telecommunication systems, constitutes a field of intense research activities. The UWB protocol that occupies a frequency spectrum between 3.1 and 10.6 GHz is the subject of the current work which aims to the design, fabrication and measurement of electronic circuits with emphasis put on the receiver’s RF front end. The initial focus of the research work targets the Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) circuit, a demanding and challenging circuit that being at the very front of the receiver’s chain, has to compromise among different and contradictory requirements, namely the extended bandwidth, the gain, the power and chip area consumption and the noise performance. Existing topologies in the literature were explored and classified and two among them were selected for further research. The first fabricated chip includes three LNAs, two of which apply the common source topology with input bandpass filter and inductive source degeneration and their difference lies in the measurement method. One amplifier is measured on wafer while the other is mounted on board. That way, intuition is acquired regarding the effect of the bondwires that act as the interface between the chip and the board. At the same time, ESD protection strategy is applied as the chip is more vulnerable to static currents. The third LNA is based on the feedback topology and constitutes a work of novelty, where bandwidth extension techniques were applied, comprising of inductive elements. The following measurement procedure was successful indicating an upper frequency of operation for the feedback LNA up to 7GHz. The focus of the work after the LNAs was shifted to system level for the implementation of the total RF front end of the receiver up to 10.6GHz. The system comprises an improved version of the feedback LNA followed by two identical paths, each one consisting of a mixer, a high pass filter and an output buffer at 50 Ohm for measurement purpose. The challenges that are mostly highlighted are the mixer design in conjunction with the necessary balun interface from the single ended output of the LNA to the differential mixer. A novel technique is proposed for the balun that builds on the differential pair topology and provides coupling between the load elements that both are implemented with a center tapped inductor. That way the designed balun achieves balanced outputs in terms of amplitude and phase. The technique is supported by mathematical analysis and the comparison between computed and simulated results show convergence. The resulting mixer that includes the balun belongs to the folded cascode differential connection. Moreover, given the limitations of the available measurement equipment, several layout techniques were applied; particularly in the issue of the external LO signal feeding. The two quadrature LO signals are provided in single ended form and traverse the chip by two equal length transmission lines that are separated at the center of the chip and reach the on chip single to differential converters that are placed close to the mixers. In every critical point, care is taken to shield the high frequency signals from interferences. In any case, the placing of a high number of individual elements that have different requirements on the same chip requires for compromises, while layout techniques and rules of thumb have been applied to the maximum extend. The final proposed architecture belongs to the direct conversion category and worked successfully up to the frequency of 8.5GHz. It achieves gain of 25dB, double sideband noise figure of 7dB and power consumption of 62.7 mW.