Tunable Duplexers: Downlink Band Isolation Requirements for LTE User Equipment

Leo Laughlin, Chunqing Zhang, Mark A. Beach, Kevin A. Morris, John L. Haine
2019 IEEE Wireless Communications Letters  
General rights This document is made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the reference above. Full terms of use are available: Abstract-Tunable duplexers based on self-interference cancellation present a promising alternative to fixed-frequency duplexers (e.g. surface acoustic wave devices), however the level of transmit-to-receive (Tx-Rx) isolation they provide is typically lower compared to acoustic devices. This paper quantifies the
more » ... pact of reduced isolation on receiver (Rx) noise figure (NF), and determines minimum isolation requirements for Tx-Rx isolation in cellular handset transceivers. Measurements of Tx noise power spectral density from a cellular handset power amplifier are combined with theoretical analysis and long term evolution (LTE) downlink throughput simulations to assess the impact of isolation on the noise figure and sensitivity. Although lower duplexer isolation can lead to substantial desensitization for some duplex separation/bandwidth combinations, achieving LTE compliant sensitivity requires only 38 dB of isolation in the Rx band. LTE sensitivity specification compliance is therefore readily achievable with current tunable duplexing technologies. Index Terms-Full duplex, duplexers, electrical balance duplexer, frequency division duplex, self-interference cancellation, LTE, noise.
doi:10.1109/lwc.2019.2917441 fatcat:ha4yhecq5jcjtj6yz73znl5ozi