A system and method are provided for calibrating for an I/Q mismatch of a
direct conversion receiver based on a random signal having a
two-dimensional I versus Q trajectory, such as radio frequency (RF)
noise. In general, the random signal is received and downconverted to a
quadrature baseband signal having an in-phase component and a quadrature
component. The variance of the in-phase component, the variance of the
quadrature component, and the covariance of the in-phase component with
the quadrature component are computed based on samples of the quadrature
baseband signal. A correction matrix used to compensate for the I/Q
mismatch of the receiver and/or I/Q mismatch including a gain mismatch
and a phase mismatch of the receiver is then computed based on the
variance of the in-phase component, the variance of the quadrature
component, and the covariance of the in-phase component with the
quadrature component.