WiBro Reference Design with the MAX2837

Abstract: The WiBro™ reference design is a complete RF front-end solution designed to meet requirements for the WiBro 2.3GHz to 2.4GHz mobile WMAN (Wireless Metropolitan Area Network) standard. This reference design uses the MAX2837 direct-conversion transceiver and demonstrates a complete WiBro single-band RF-to-baseband solution. It serves as a platform for designs in multiple form factors such as CardBus, miniPCI, and custom CPE modules. The design can be easily adapted for WiBro-only 3.3V laptop applications, or WiBro-only 5.0V CPE applications.




Figure 1.The WiBro reference design features the MAX2837 direct-conversion transceiver.

Important Design Features

• Complete RF-to-Baseband WiBro Solution
• +23dBm Transmit Power at 5% EVM and Meets Spectral Mask Requirements
• -79dBm Receive Sensitivity at 10% EVM
• 60dB of Transmit Gain-Control Range
• 94dB of Receive Gain-Control Range
• Optimized Low-Current Modes

More detailed /static/ic5/dianlu/image (PDF, 324KB)
Figure 2. Block diagram for the WiBro reference design.

Lab Measurements

Supply Current SummaryVBATT= +3.6V, VCC= +2.85V, TA= +25°C Parameter Test Conditions Measured Units Shutdown Supply Current MAX2837 and PA in shutdown; regulators and VCTCXO still active 1.8 mA Idle Supply Current MAX2837 in idle mode; PA in shutdown; regulators and VCTCXO active 34.8 mA Transmit Supply Current 16 QAM, 3/4 FEC coding rate, POUT= +24dBm, EVM = 5% 392.6 mA Receive Supply Current In Low-current mode 79 mA Nominal current mode 96.2 Receive SummaryVBATT= +3.6V, VCC= +2.85V, fRF= 2347MHz, VOUT= 90mVRMS, WiBro signal, RF specs are antenna referred, TA= +25°C Parameter Test Conditions Measured Units DC Offset I channels 6.8 mV Q channels 4.5 VGA Gain Step Size   2 dB Receive Gain-Control Range Max to min VGA gain 61.7 dB Receive LNA Gain Step Attenuation from 0dB to -16dB -15.9 dB Attenuation from 0dB to -32dB 32.1 Gain Variation over Temperature TA= -40°C to +85°C LNA gain = 0dB -5.2 dB LNA gain = -16dB -5.3 LNA gain = -32dB -3 Gain Variation over Frequency fLO= 2304MHz to fLO= 2396MHz 0.2 dB Sensitivity at Low Supply Current¹ 64 QAM, 3/4 FEC coding rate, 10% EVM at sensitivity -79.8 dBm 16 QAM, 3/4 FEC coding rate, 20% EVM at sensitivity -90.7 Sensitivity at Nominal Supply Current¹ 16 QAM, ¾ FEC coding rate, 20% EVM at sensitivity -80.4 dBm 16 QAM, 3/4 FEC coding rate, 20% EVM at sensitivity -91.3 ¹Rx EVM limits are at BB I/Q Rx outputs, and are given in the IEEE® 802.16e specification Table 338, "Receiver SNR Assumptions." The assumption is that this EVM for this modulation rate is sufficient to meet 1e-6 BER. Transmit SummaryVBATT= +3.6V, VCC= +2.85V, fRF= 2347MHz, VIN= 90mVRMS, WiBro signal, RF specs are antenna referred, TA= +25°C Parameter Test Conditions Measured Units LO Leakage Q = 640/352µA, I = 576/416µA -39.6 dBc Sideband Suppression I/Q phase = -0.5° -52.5 dBc Transmit Power-Control Range Including PA gain step 64.5 dB Gain Variation over Frequency fLO= 2304MHz to fLO= 2396MHz 1.9 dB Transmit EVM 16 QAM, 3/4 FEC coding rate, POUT= +24dBm, meeting spectral mask 4.1 % 16 QAM, 3/4 FEC coding rate, POUT= +23dBm, meeting spectral mask 3.5

Transmit Operating Characteristics

Figure 3. Output EVM for the reference design. The WiBro reference design delivers more than 23dBm of output power at the antenna, while meeting the required EVM specification of 5.5% over the entire 2.3GHz to 2.4GHz band.



Figure 4. Transmit capture for the reference design. This capture shows the transmit spectrum, EVM constellation, and spectrum of the reference design at 23dBm of output power at the antenna. Measured EVM = 3.9% at 23dBm at 2.347GHz.