How to balance frequency conversion loss and dynamic range in RF downconverter?
Designing a receiver isn’t easy. You worry a strong interfering signal will saturate your downconverter. The result is a distorted signal, making your whole system useless. The best way to balance performance is to relax the downconverter’s conversion loss to 8-12 dB1. This allows for a higher IP3, giving you a much wider dynamic range2. […]
How Do You Troubleshoot Up Down Converter Noise Floor Calibration Errors?
Getting impossible noise floor readings can stop your project cold. You know the numbers are wrong, but you can’t find the source of the error, wasting valuable time. Your first step is to check the software, not the hardware. An impossibly low noise floor reading, below -174 dBm/Hz1, is almost always a software calibration error. […]