Performance evaluation of IQ-modulator ADL5375at 5.8 GHz and its effect on transmitterperformance in a telecommunications system

Abstract: Because of the tough competition inthe telecom business there is aconstant push for higher capacity anddata rates and the companies producingthe telecommunications equipment needmore cost effective products to stayahead of competitors. It is thereforeinteresting to evaluate thepossibilities to use unlicensedfrequency bands at higher frequenciesas a complement to the traditionallower frequency bands. This study isfocusing on the 5.8 GHz band, which ismainly used for WLAN applications. Akey component in most transmitter (TX)designs is is the quadraturemodulator, which upconverts theinformation signal to desired carrierfrequency. In this study an attempt toevaluate the commercially availablequadrature modulator ADL5375 at 5.8GHz. An AWR Visual System Simulator(VSS) model based on measurements ofkey parameters of ADL5375 isconstructed. An attempt is made to seewhether a TX design can pass thespecifications set by 3rd GenerationPartnership Project (3GPP) for theLong Term Evolution (LTE) standard. Totest this an LTE signal source wasalso constructed. No certainconclusions can be drawn withoutputting the modulator in a complete(TX) design but the results indicatethat it might be possible to use it ina (TX) design for the 5.8 GHz band.