Design and Simulation of Superheterodyne Receiver at 5.25GHz in ADS

Abstract

The superheterodyne receiver is an enduring radio receiver design, and has been extensively used in radio communication, broadcasting, and other related fields. The conventional superheterodyne receiver, which uses an envelope detector, non-linear mixer, and discrete amplifier, has the drawbacks of low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), poor sensitivity, and excessive distortion when the incoming signal is weak and varies widely. In this report, we present the design and evaluation of a superheterodyne receiver architecture that integrates key components, including a band select filter, low noise amplifier, mixer, and channel select filter. With its high sensitivity, enhanced signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and decreased distortion, this system provides a reliable way to receive weak signals in practical communication settings. Compared to conventional superheterodyne receivers, our proposed receiver design exhibits notable performance gains, making it appropriate for a variety of communication uses, such as radio and broadcasting. Our superheterodyne receiver is designed for the RF frequency band of 5.15 GHz - 5.35 GHz with the bandwidth of 20MHz using a single conversion heterodyne architecture with image rejection implemented via pre-select bandpass filter.