ECE 740 Topic 4 - Fall 2015

ECE 740 Topic 4 - Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit Design

Instructor

John R. Long
Office: E5 4022
e-mail: jrlong@uwaterloo.ca
Office hours: Thursdays 14:00-17:00

Lectures

Tuesdays, 11:30 - 14:30 in room EIT 3151, September 15 through December 1

Prerequisites

ECE 444, 331 and 242 (or equivalents); SPICE simulation experience.

Course description

Transistor-level design of circuits for wideband RF front-ends. An overview of 2G (GSM) and 3G (W-CDMA) standards and relevant radio architectures is presented, with key system specifications mapped onto circuit specifications. On-chip passive component design and simulation aimed at maximizing RF performance is discussed in detail. Circuit examples include: wideband preamplifiers and gain blocks, I-Q up/downconverters, voltage- and digitally-controlled oscillators (VCO/DCO), and power amplifier drivers. Design of circuit blocks for mm-wave frequency applications and RF testing, packaging and characterization are also discussed.

Course Content

Detailed description
Number of weeks Topics
1, 2
  • Overview of radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) design.
  • Circuit specifications derived for 2G (GSM) and 3G (W-CDMA) standards.
  • Transceiver link performance analysis.
  • Assignment #1: Transceiver link analysis.
3, 4
  • Characterization of silicon MOSFETs and SiGe-HBTs, and CMOS/BiCMOS technologies for RF and high-speed applications.
  • Feedback and wideband preamplifiers.
  • Assignment #2: RF amplifier design
5, 6
  • On-chip passive components: capacitors, varactors, resistors, interconnect and transmission lines, inductors, transformers.
  • Assignment #3: On-chip passive component simulation and design using ADS-Momentum.
7, 8
  • Oscillators.
  • L-C oscillator topologies.
  • Resonant tanks and oscillator tuning.
  • VCO/DCO design for RF transceivers up to mm-wave frequencies.
  • Assignment #4: VCO and DCO design for PLL synthesizers.
9, 10
  • Up and down conversion mixers.
  • Linear multipliers.
  • Mixer input and commutation stages.
  • RFIC approaches for low voltage/low power and high linearity mixing.
  • I/Q mixers and quadrature up/downconversion.
  • LNA/mixer interfacing.
  • Assignment #5: IC mixer design.
11 RFIC design for mm-wave frequency applications.
12 RFIC packaging, testing and characterization. Course wrap-up.

References

  1. B. Razavi, RF Microelectronics, 2nd edition, Prentice-Hall, 2011.
  2. IEEE RFIC-VJ
  3. D. Pozar, Microwave Engineering, 4th edition, Wiley, 2011.
  4. S.P. Voinigescu, High-Frequency Integrated Circuits, Cambridge University Press, 2013.

Also:

IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits and Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques

Proceedings of the ISSCC, CICC, IMS/RFIC Symposium, BCTM, ESSCIRC, and CSICS conferences.

Grading

Assignments: 5 for 50% total (hand-in of all assignments required)
Examination: 50%