A 2.0 GS/s Two-Stage Quad-Channel Digital Downconverter for a 380 GHz Spaceborne Atmospheric HO Monitoring Instrument

This brief presents a quad-channel 2.0 GS/s digital downconverter (DDC) chip in 65nm CMOS that supports the NASA Stratospheric Water Inventory and Tomography by Convective Hydration (SWITCH) spaceborne instrument. The presented DDC chipset provides a wide input bandwidth and allows the transmitted 380 GHz signals to be channelized to perform the atmospheric measurements. The prototype DDC chip is implemented in a 65nm CMOS technology and consumes 177mW of DC power.