6. Author : Criterion
SNR V.S. C/N0
SNR is usually expressed in terms of decibels(dB). It refers to the ratio of the
signal power and noise power in a given bandwidth[57].
C/N0, in contrast, is usually expressed in decibel-Hertz (dB-Hz) and refers to the
ratio of the carrier power and the noise power per unit bandwidth. Thus, we can
express C/N0 as follows:
In real GPS application, the C/N0 is usually 37 ~ 45 dB-Hz. During design stages,
the conducted C/N0 should be larger than 40 dB-Hz with -130 dBm GPS signal.
4
11. Author : Criterion
Pre-SAW
As shown below[31],
These outband blockers may leak into the GPS receiver’s path and have a gigantic
impact on the receiver’s sensitivity by overloading the receiver’s LNA or
backend[31]. The stronger outband blocker is, the more degradation of SNR will
be[41].
9
20. Author : Criterion
As shown above, the input impedance of pre-SAW, including matching1 and
matching2, must be 50Ω to avoid degrading SAW filter performance due to
mismatched impedance. Although matching1 and matching2 belong to LNA
source-pull as well, matching3 influences LNA more than matching1 and
matching2 due to the fact it is closer to LNA. Thus, in terms of source-pull, we just
need to tune matching3 to lowest NF location on Smith Chart. As for placement,
please place pre-SAW as close to the LNA as possible, leaving only enough room
to place the matching components between them[54]. Otherwise, the outband
blocker may still feed into LNA.
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21. Author : Criterion
As shown above, the Pin2/3/5 are GND pins[101]. For a good outband noise
rejection, a low crosstalk is necessary. Low crosstalk can be realized with a good
RF layout. The major crosstalk mechanism is caused by the “ground-loop”
problem. Grounding loops are created if input-and output transducer GND are
connected on the top-side of the PCB and fed to the system grounding plane by a
common via hole. To avoid the common ground path, the ground pin of the input
and output transducer should be isolated from the top-side grounding plane.
Otherwise, the outband noise rejection degrades. In this PCB layout, the
grounding loops are minimized to realize good ultimate rejection[100]. As shown
below :
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22. Author : Criterion
Besides, the input and output grounding pins are isolated and connected to the
common ground by enough separated via holes. Plentiful GND via holes will
provide a more effective ground and better outband noise rejection for the
pre-SAW[55].
Besides 50Ω impedance, the variation in pre-SAW response is also dominated by
temperature drift, resulting in unacceptable interference and high IL[102].
As a result, numerous GND via holes will also help mitigate the thermal effects.
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31. Author : Criterion
In general, the wire-wound type inductor has higher Q value than multi-layer
type.
As for the LNA input matching, as mentioned earlier, the pre-SAW input
impedance must be 50Ω to avoid degrading SAW filter performance due to
mismatched impedance. But, the pre-SAW output matching should be designed
to achieve the minimum NF(not necessarily 50 Ohm).
As shown above, matching1 affects LNA input impedance as well. Nevertheless,
compared to matching1, matching2 affects more. Thus, matching1 must be 50Ω,
to achieve the best pre-SAW performance, minimum NF is just realized by
matching2(non-50Ω).
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39. Author : Criterion
Mixer
An active mixer has been selected because it presents a higher gain and
lower noise than the passive ones[49]. But, for the direct-conversion
receiver, the typical challenges are DC offsets, mixer second-order nonlinear
effects, and flicker noise. Because these interference is near the desired GPS
signal down-converted directly to baseband[39, 46].
Flicker noise is even larger than the down-converted Rx signal[69]. Active mixers
suffer from high 1/f noise and poor linearity, especially when the supply voltage
is low. In contrast, a current driven passive mixer can provide relatively good
linearity and inherent low 1/f noise performance due to the absence of DC
current[38, 69]. Although a passive mixer has larger NF than active ones, the NF
of LNA subsequent blocks contribute to sensitivity slightly. Thus, in general,
passive CMOS mixers are considered as the appropriate choice for
direct-conversion receivers for they do not contribute to 1/f noise[69].
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53. Author : Criterion
As mentioned earlier, the VCO output frequency is dependent on control voltage.
As shown above, Kvco is the slope. We should make Kvco low to reduce VCO
modulation sensitivity to keep the oscillating frequency as stable as possible. In
general, the Kvco for GPS application should be less than 50 MHz/V[44].
Besides phase noise, the VCO should also has low frequency drift. As shown
below, the XO is the source of VCO.
As a result, you should select the XO with low frequency drift. In general, in GPS
application, the frequency drift should be within ±5 ppm (±7.877 kHz for GPS
and ±8.028 kHz for GLONASS)[23]
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55. Author : Criterion
Furthermore, if the signal trace is too close to adjacent layer, the IL may increase
as a result of parasitic capacitance.
Let’s suppose the parasitic capacitance is a 0201 size, 750 ff capacitor shunting
to GND.
As shown above, there is 0.16 dB additional IL at GPS frequency. Although the
assumption is not correct certainly, it is doubtless that parasitic capacitance
contributes to additional IL.
53
66. Author : Criterion
As for SMPS input capacitors, which should be as close to PMIC as possible, or
the transient current from PMIC may couple to other traces, and the transient
current from other chip may leak into PMIC as well, thereby aggravating GPS
performance.
Furthermore, SMPS input capacitors should be grounded through isolated area,
or the transient current from PMIC may leak into other chips through common
GND, and the transient current from other chips may leak into PMIC through
common GND as well, thereby deteriorating GPS performance.
Besides, add a mass of ground vias and connect this isolated ground area to the
PCB main ground plane directly[103].
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67. Author : Criterion
As for SMPS switching inductors,
With larger inductor value, comes less ripple and EMI noise. But, larger inductor
value results in more turns, thereby increasing DCR(DC resistance) and IR drop
issue.
By the way, with the same inductor value, the larger size is, the less DCR will be.
So, the inductor size should not be too small. And we should select the power
inductor with less DCR.
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80. Author : Criterion
In addition to RF trace, I/Q signal, and power, care needs to be taken for high
speed digital signal as well. Such as SSBI(Single-line Serial Bus Interface),
which is clocked at 19.2 MHz (reference clock frequency) and should be well
isolated, so good layout techniques are extremely important[51].
DDR(Double-Data-Rate) clock, such as 50 MHz, 100 MHz, 200 MHz, 400 MHz, and
533 MHz, the harmonics may generate wideband jammer radiating into GPS
antenna through likely radiation path such as power/GND[10]. For example, the
fourth order harmonics of 400 MHz DDR clock causes 15 dB desense to
GLONASS( 1600 MHz)[10]. Changing the clock frequency is a possible method to
mitigate the issue.
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83. Author : Criterion
As for FPC(Flexible Printed Circuit), take LCD for example,
Since there is a link between LCD and PCB through FPC. Namely, regardless of
noise source, which is from LCD or PCB, unnecessary radiating noises are
produced from the FPC acting as an antenna. GPS antenna may pick up the
radiating noises and desense issue occurs[105].
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98. Author : Criterion
Let’s analyze the following similar case[106] :
As a result of the fault that memory traces overlap micro SD card traces, and the
micro SD card connector is near GPS antenna. The noise from memory traces
couples to micro SD card traces, flowing into micro SD card connector
, and then the radiating noise from micro SD card connector acting as a radiator
is picked up by GPS antenna. Therefore, desense issue occurs.
As mentioned earlier, if possible, keep any FPC and connector away from GPS
antenna.
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99. Author : Criterion
As for SIM card,
As shown above, the SIM card traces on top layer were too long, which caused
approximately 5 dB desense[106]. After covering the top layer traces with copper
foil and intensifying the grounding of SIM card connector, the sensitivity
improved roughly 3 dB[106]. Consequently, as mentioned earlier, the noisy traces
should be short and routed in inner layer as a result of better isolation. Moreover,
as shielding can, you cannot strengthen the grounding of connector too much for
poor grounding is worse than no grounding in wireless test due to the fact that
connector will act as radiator because of cavity resonator mechanism.
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