Improvement of noise performance in phased-array receivers

This paper presents a new analytical approach and experimental verification for the improvement of noise performance in phased-array receivers. For analysis purposes, a multi-channel array system is converted into an equivalent single-channel system, such that the two presents the identical signal and noise powers at the output, respectively. We define an effective gain, noise figure, and signal-to-noise ratio in the equivalent system. Through the proposed approach, the noise performance of the array receiver is analyzed in a general and straightforward manner and then compared to that of each individual array channel. In addition, the phase noise of the array system is analyzed in a rigorous manner, showing its effective reduction by a factor of the array size. The predicted improvement of the noise performance is experimentally confirmed with a CMOS integrated phased-array receiver.