An integrated semiconductor image-rejection mixer having high linearity and high
gain. In addition to the components of a classic image-rejection architecture,
the present mixer has a high-frequency current-diverting stage that permits the
operation of the output stage with high conversion gain and sufficient headroom
for good linearity, even in cases where the supply voltage is relatively low (such
as 3 V). The conversion gain of the mixer and its image-rejection performance can
be changed by changing the load resistances and the elements of the output polyphase
network, with minor effects on linearity and no change in power consumption or
DC levels. The power consumption of the image-rejection mixer is low because no
additional DC current is required for buffers or amplifier stages.