Radio Architecture Matters: A Review of RF Sampling vs. Zero-IF

The growing demand for wireless services not only challenges our limited spectral resources, it also challenges the radio designer to select the correct radio architecture. A proper radio architecture not only provides solid performance, but it simplifies the circuit around the radio to minimize cost, power, and size. In the era of increasing radio deployments, a proper radio is tolerant of current and future wireless neighbors that might otherwise cause interference down the road. This article will examine two common radio architectures and compare the trade-offs on how each solves the unique challenge of growing co-location issues.