Chapter 18
Planning a Receiver System
Planning a receiver system is one of those
phrases that has at least two meanings. First,
it could mean selecting a receiver system for
use. Second, it could mean planning a radio
receiver design and architecture. It is the lat-
ter meaning that we mean by planning a re-
ceiver system.
WHAT IS IMPORTANT
No parameter of the receiver is unimportant,
but several have predominance. First is the
sensitivity required of the receiver. Whether
it is described in terms of microvolts (µV) or
dBm to achieve a given signal-to-noise ratio,
the sensitivity is important. Second, the dy-
namic range of the receiver is very impor-
tant. The dynamic range is the distance in
decibels from the minimum discernible sig-
nal to the –1 dB compression point. Third is
the matter of selectivity. The bandwidth of
the IF amplifier comes into play at this point.
Then it gets a little messy. The –1 dB com-
pression point and the third-order intercept
point (TOIP) certainly are very important
and related to the dynamic range. The SNR,
271
as well as the absolute noise level of the re-
ceiver, is important—in fact, it may be the
most important of all of these factors.
Finally, where to locate the inevitable spuri-
ous responses is a concern.
An ideal receiver would have a 60
dBm TOIP, 0 dB noise figure (NF), and no
spurious responses, but this is unreason-
able to expect. The design of the receiver
must trade off a number of factors to
achieve its goals.
A SUPERHETERODYNE RECEIVER
Figure 18.1 shows a block diagram for a high
frequency shortwave receiver. The stages
from the RF input are discussed next, and the
gains and noise figures to be expected in
each stage are shown in Figure 18.2.
20 dB Attenuator
A 6, 12, or more likely a 20 dB attenuator is
provided to reduce the signal strength of in-
put signals. The attenuator typically can be
switched in and out of the circuit.
272 THE TECHNICIAN’S RADIO RECEIVER HANDBOOK

MIXER

RF LP OR BP RF BANDPASS
INPUT 20-dB FILTER AMPLIFIER FILTER
ATTENUATOR

HIGH LOCAL
OSCILLATOR

MIXER

HIGH IF 2nd IF BP LOW IF

DEMODULATOR
AMPLIFIER FILTER AMPLIFIER

LOW LOCAL
OSCILLATOR

AUDIO AUDIO POWER

PREAMP AMPLIFIER OUTPUT

Fig. 18.1 HF shortwave receiver block diagram.

LP/BP FILTER RF AMPLIFIER HIGH MIXER/LO BP FILTER HIGH IF AMPLIFIER LOW MIXER/LO 2nd IF FILTER LOW IF AMPLIFIER

Power Gain dB -1 10 -6 -1 20 -6 -6 >90

Noise Figure dB X 3.6 -6 X 2 -6 X 4
IP2 dBm X 80 X X X X X X
IP3 dBm 33 X X X X X X X

Fig. 18.2 Gain and noise figures.

LP or BP Filter adding unnecessary noise to the circuit prior

to the selectivity, thus they eliminate the RF
Some form of input filtering is needed to im-
amplifier.
prove the image rejection of the receiver as
well as suppress spurious signals. Two de-
signs are used. A 32–35 MHz low-pass filter Mixer/High LO
may be used to keep the response within
This mixer will up-convert the 0.54–30
range. Or, individual bandpass filters may be
MHz signals to some frequency in the
used instead of the low-pass filter.
vicinity of 45–77 MHz, with 50 MHz being
very common.
RF Amplifier
Bandpass Filter
If an RF amplifier is used, it will have a low
gain (3 to 20 dB) and relative broad selectiv- The bandpass filter is the high IF filter and
ity (maybe a wideband amplifier). There is a will be on the up-converted frequency (e.g.,
school of thought that one should not be 50 MHz).

High IF Amplifier
The high IF amplifier typically is low gain (20
dB) and may be eliminated in some designs.
Mixer/Low LO
This mixer/LO circuit down-converts the
45–77 MHz signal from the high IF to some
frequency such as 10.7 MHz, 9 MHz, 8.83
MHz, or 455 kHz.
Second IF BP Filter
The second IF bandpass filter provides the
main selectivity of the receiver, and its band-
width dominates the performance of the re-
ceiver. It may be switchable, with bandpasses
such as 270 Hz, 500 Hz, 2.8 kHz, 4 kHz, and
6 kHz.
Low IF Amplifier
The low IF amplifier provides the bulk of the
gain of the receiver. Typically, 60–100 dB of
the overall gain will be in this amplifier.
Demodulator
The demodulator will demodulate or detect
the signal, recovering the impressed audio.
The demodulator may be FM/PM, SSB/CW,
or AM.
Audio Preamplifier
The audio preamp builds the small signal
output from the demodulator circuit to a
point where it will drive the audio power
stage. Typically, the audio preamp and the
audio power amplifier are embedded in the
same chip today.
Audio Power Amplifier
The audio power amplifier builds the signal
from the audio preamp to a level where it
can drive the loudspeaker or earphones.
NOISE IN THE RECEIVER
All radio reception faces the problem of sig-
nal-to-noise ratio control. Indeed, when sig-
nals are weak, the SNR is of paramount
Planning a Receiver System 273
importance to the success of the system. A
certain amount of noise is contributed from
sources outside the receiver, but here we
concern ourselves with the noise generated
inside it. A basic level of noise is inherent to
any circuit, equal to the thermal noise of the
resistive component of its impedance. This
noise is
PN = 4KTBR (18.1)
where
PN is the noise power in watts (W);
K is the temperature in Kelvin (K);
B is the bandwidth in hertz (Hz);
R is the resistance in ohms (Ω).
This is the least noise that will be pre-
sent in the circuit. But, transistors and inte-
grated circuits add noise of their own, and
this noise is likely to be much higher than
the thermal noise. In general, in a cascade
circuit, the noise is given by Friis’s equation:
F2 − 1 F 3 − 1 F4 −1
F = F1 + + + + ... (18.2)
G1 G1 G2 G1 G2 G 3
where
F is the overall noise figure;
F1, F2, F3, F4 are the noise figures of
the successive stages;
G1, G2, G3 are the gains of the succes-
sive stages.
Clearly, the noise factor of the initial
stage in the cascade chain dominates the
scene. It is important to keep the noise figure
of the first stage or two in the chain very low
to lower the overall noise figure. This one
factor argues for a low noise amplifier (LNA)
and a low noise mixer stage.
SENSITIVITY
The sensitivity of a radio receiver is proba-
bly one of the most important aspects to its
design. You can specify sensitivity in terms
of microvolts or dBm to achieve a given sig-
nal-to-noise ratio in a given bandwidth.
Therefore, a specification might read 0.5 µV
274 THE TECHNICIAN’S RADIO RECEIVER HANDBOOK
SIGNAL
GENERATOR
NO. 1
0–120 dB
3 dB HYBRID
ATTENUATOR
COUPLER
(1 dB STEPS)
SIGNAL
GENERATOR
NO. 2
Fig. 18.3 Test setup for receivers.
for 10 dB SNR in 2800 Hz bandwidth. All
gains (less losses) in the receiver contribute
to the sensitivity figure, but the gain of the
IF amplifier largely sets it.
SELECTIVITY
The selectivity of the receiver is set largely by
the IF amplifier filtering, but the filtering that
goes up front is very important in reducing
certain spurious responses. After all, if no
signals are there to cause the spurious re-
sponse, then they do not occur.
The IF filtering sets the bandwidth char-
acteristics of the receiver, which in turn de-
termines the selectivity characteristics. The IF
filter is single frequency, and as such, it can
be made with very steep side slopes and a
very narrow bandwidth. Filters of 270 Hz are
not unheard of in shortwave receivers (for
CW reception), but most are on the order of
1.8, 2.8, 4, or 8 kHz. Multiple filters provide
multiple bandwidths.
CALCULATING THE INTERCEPT
POINTS
Figure 18.3 shows the test setup for testing
the intermodulation distortion of the receiver
under test. The signal generators should be
clean of spurious signals and well calibrated.
The –3 dB hybrid couplers should produce
low levels of IMD themselves, and they
should be low-loss devices. It is important
that the –3 dB hybrid coupler have equal loss
to both input ports. The signal generators are
RECEIVER AUDIO POWER
UNDER TEST METER
set to produce a comfortable level of output,
say –10 or –20 dBm, a frequency 20 kHz
apart. Shielding the signal generators, the
coupler, the attenuator, and all interconnec-
tions is important to this test.
Perhaps the best procedure is to use
the minimum detectable signal to make this
test. The MDS is the signal level that pro-
duces a +3 dB increase in the receiver
audio output power level. Measure the re-
ceiver’s noise output with no signal pre-
sent, then adjust the attenuator to produce
the 3 dB increase.
Once the level of the IMD product and
the levels of the signals are known, you can
calculate the intercept points as follows:
nPA − PIM N
IPN = (18.3)
n −1
where
IPN is the nth-order intercept point;
PA is the input power of one of the
inputs;
PIMN is the level of the IMD product sig-
nal;
n is the order of the IMD product.
For example, to find the second-order in-
tercept point (SOIP), the equation reduces to
2PA − PIM 2
TOIP = (18.4)
2−1
And for the third-order intercept point (TOIP),
3PA − PIM 3
TOIP =
3−1