Towards a broadband front-end for cooperative spectrum sensing networks
Peter Lohmiller, Ahmed Elsokary, Hermann Schumacher, Sébastien Chartier · 2014
Cooperative spectrum sensing in cognitive radio (CR) avoids hidden terminal problems common to network architectures with central sensing nodes. It also lowers the requirements for the sensing radio front-ends. This paper presents a multi-chip module RF front-end implemented from custom RFICs realized in an 0.25 μm SiGe BiCMOS technology. Using an up/down-conversion heterodyne architecture, the front-end achieves a conversion gain exceeding 17.2 dB and a frequency range up to 4.5 GHz. The noise figure between 15.4 dB and 19.8 dB and the input referred third order intercept point (IIP3) of -7.5dBm constitute a noise/linearity trade-off and are acceptable for compact distributed sensing nodes. The module draws 150mA from a single 5V supply. It was validated in real-world sensing scenarios, combined with a broadband discone antenna, external local oscillators, and a Virtex 6 FPGA evaluation board.