ECE 642 - Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit Design
Transistor-level design of circuits for wideband RF and high-speed data communication front-ends. On- chip passive component design and simulation aimed at maximizing RF performance are discussed in detail. Circuit examples include: wideband preamplifiers and gain blocks, I-Q up/downconverters, voltage- and digitally-controlled oscillators (VCO/DCO), etc. Design of circuit blocks for mm-wave frequency applications and RF testing, packaging and characterization are also discussed, time permitting.
Lecturer: J.R. Long, E5-4022, jrlong@uwaterloo.ca
Prerequisites: ECE 444, 331 (or equivalents); SPICE simulation experience.
| Week | Lecture Topics |
|---|---|
| 1 - 2 |
Overview of radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFIC) and circuit design review. Transceiver link analysis and relationship to RF circuit specifications. |
| 3 - 4 |
Characterization of silicon MOSFETs and SiGe-HBTs, and CMOS/BiCMOS technologies for RF and high-speed applications. Feedback and wideband preamplifiers. |
| 5 - 6 |
On-chip passive components: capacitors, varactors, resistors, interconnect and transmission lines, inductors, transformers. |
| 7 - 8 |
Oscillators. L-C oscillator topologies. Resonant tanks and oscillator tuning. VCO/DCO design for RF transceivers up to mm-wave frequencies. |
| 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. |
| 11 - 12 |
RFIC design for mm-wave frequency applications. |
References:
- B. Razavi, RF Microelectronics, 2nd edition, Prentice-Hall, 2011.
- D. Pozar, Microwave Engineering, 4th edition, Wiley, 2011.
- S.P. Voinigescu, High-Frequency Integrated Circuits, Cambridge University Press, 2013.
- RFIC Virtual Journal: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/virtual-journals/rfic
Also: IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits and Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques; Proceedings of the ISSCC, RFIC Symposium, CICC, ESSCIRC conferences.
Assignments: 5 for 50% total (hand-in of all assignments required, late work penalty is 5% per day)
Examination: 50% final (open book)