Understanding and Enhancing Sensitivity in Receivers for Wireless Applic\ations

This technical brief provides an overview of communication receiver sensitivity. One of the most important parameters in determining the overall performance of a communication system, receiver sensitivity translates directly into communication distance and reliability. A few receiver architectures can offer dependable communication at low cost, if proper design procedures and trade-offs are implemented. RF amplifiers, mixers, and filters are common circuit building blocks for every architecture. System performance is tied to each individual block comprising the receiver. Each circuit generates noise that degrades reception of the desired signal. Understanding noise sources and the methods of minimizing degradation allows optimal design trade-offs for a given cost. Circuit nonlinearity causes undesired signals to hinder the reception of desired signals. A low-noise system design typically does not produce the best linearity, and high linearity typically produces more noise. A thorough understanding of the receiver RF environment can help your design achieve the proper specifications for optimal noise and linearity.