60 GHz宽带无线通信射频芯片研究进展

60GHz无线通信技术由于其超高速的数据传输能力,将成为第4代无线通信技术的代表,引发了学术界和工业界研究热潮。近几年,随着半导体技术的发展,基于不同工艺的60GHz宽带无线通信射频芯片已经不断有报道。文中跟踪了近些年国外60GHz无线技术研究情况,分别从应用、技术特点、标准状况和芯片研究进展等方面介绍了60GHz宽带无线通信系统及其发展趋势。     

SiGe Radio Frequency ICs for Low-Power Portable Communication

The range and impact of SiGe bipolar and BiCMOS technologies on wireless transceivers for portable telephony and data communications are surveyed. SiGe technology enables transceiver designs that compare favorably with competing technologies such as RF CMOS or III-Vs, with advantages in design cycle time and performance versus cost. As wireless devices continue to increase in complexity using conventional battery technology as the power source, the desire to reduce current consumption in future transceivers continues to favor SiGe technology. Examples are drawn from contemporary wireless communications ICs. The performance of on-chip passive components in silicon technologies are also reviewed in this paper. Greater understanding of the limitations of passive devices coupled with improved models for their performance are leading to circuits offering wider RF dynamic range at ever higher operating frequencies. The innovations in on-chip passive design and construction currently being pioneered in mixed-signal SiGe technologies are enabling circuits operating deep into millimeter-wave frequency bands (i.e., well above 30 GHz). In addition, sophisticated on-chip magnetic components combined with deep submicrometer SiGe active devices in a transceiver front end are envisioned that enable single-volt SiGe circuits, with even lower current consumption than is achievable today. Relevant examples from the recent literature are presented.     

Low-power radio-frequency ICs for portable communications

The contributions of integrated circuits to the RF front-end of wireless receivers and transmitters operating in broadcast and personal communications bands are surveyed. It is seen from this that when ICs enable a rethinking of the RF architecture, the wireless device can sometimes become significantly smaller, and consume much less power. Examples are taken from FM broadcast receivers, pagers, and cellular telephone handsets. Many semiconductor technologies are competing today to supply RF-ICs to cellular telephones. The various design styles and levels of integration are compared, with the conclusion that single-chip silicon transceivers, combined with architectures which substantially reduce off-chip passive components, will likely dominate digital cellular telephones in the near future. The survey also projects future trends for ICs for miniature spread-spectrum transceivers offering robust operation in the crowded spectrum. With sophistication in baseband digital signal processing, its increasing interaction with the RF sections, and with increasing experience in simplified radio architectures, all-CMOS radios appear promising in the 900 MHz to 2 GHz bands. A specific CMOS spread-spectrum transceiver project underway at the author's institution is discussed by way of example     

A portable multimedia terminal

A personal communications system (PCS) that centers on integration of services to provide access to data and communications using a specialized, wireless multimedia terminal is described. The possible applications and support systems for such a terminal are outlined. Several of the major design issues behind portable multimedia terminals, including spectrally efficient picocellular networking, low-power digital design, video data compression, and integrated wireless RF transceivers, are discussed. It is argued that optimizing performance in each of these areas is crucial in meeting the performance requirements of the overall system and providing a small, lightweight terminal for personal communications     

Challenges in portable RF transceiver design

As wireless products such as cellular phones become an everyday part of people's lives, the need for higher performance at lower costs becomes even more important. Overcoming the challenges involved in the design of radio-frequency (RF) transceivers can help meet this need. This article provides an overview of RF electronics in portable transceivers and describes design issues as well as current work toward achieving both high performance and low cost. To understand the implications in the design of RF integrated circuits (ICs) we look at the properties of the mobile communications environment. We then study receiver and transmitter architectures and their viability in present IC technologies. An example of an RF transceiver is given and the design of transceiver building blocks is discussed. We conclude by looking at future directions in RF design     

Impact of technology scaling and process variations on RF CMOS devices

Inspired by the huge improvement in the RF properties of CMOS devices, RF designers are invading the wireless market with all-CMOS RF transceivers and system-on-chip implementations. In this work, the impact of technology scaling on the RF properties of CMOS; frequency properties, noise performance, linearity, stability, and non-quasi static effects is investigated to provide RF designers with an insight to the capabilities of future CMOS technologies. Moreover, the RF frequency performance of CMOS is investigated under the influence of process variations for different CMOS generations. Using the BSIM4 model, it is found that future CMOS technologies have high prospects in the RF industry and will continue challenging other technologies in the RF domain to be the dominant technology for RF transceivers and system-on-chip implementations.     

M EM S 射频与微波应用技术新进展

微机电系统（Microelectromechanical system)代表了一项与集成电路制造工艺相同的新兴技术,在射频与微波领域得到广泛应用。无线通信发展的趋势是缩小系统尺寸、降低成本和功耗。本文综述了当前国际上MEMS技术的最新发展现状,对在射频与微波应用的各种MEMS器件关键技术进行了探讨。最后展望了未来的发展前景。     

Device and technology evolution for Si-based RF integrated circuits

The relationships between device feature size and device performance figures of merit (FoMs) are more complex for radio frequency (RF) applications than for digital applications. Using the devices in the key circuit blocks for typical RF transceivers, we review and give trends for the FoMs that characterize active and passive RF devices. These FoMs include transit frequency at unity current gain f/sub T/, maximum frequency of oscillation f/sub MAX/ at unit power gain, noise, breakdown voltage, capacitor density, varactor and inductor quality, and the like. We use the specifications for wireless communications systems to show how different Si-based devices may achieve acceptable FoMs. We focus on Si complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS), Si Bipolar CMOS, and Si bipolar devices, including SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors, RF devices, and integrated circuits (ICs). We analyze trends in the FoMs for Si-based RF devices and ICs and show how these trends relate to the technology nodes of the 2003 International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors. We also compare FoMs for the best reported performance of research devices and for the performance of devices manufactured in high volumes, typically more than 10 000 devices. Certain commercial equipment, instruments, or materials are identified in this article to specify adequately the experimental or theoretical procedures. Such identification does not imply recommendation by any of the host institutions of the authors, nor does it imply that the equipment or materials are necessarily the best available for the intended purpose.     

Superconducting microwave filter systems for cellular telephone base stations

In the second decade following the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity (HTS), wireless communications has emerged as the earliest large commercial market. The enormous growth of the wireless industry coupled with its increasing technology demands has created a significant opportunity for HTS technology in wireless base stations. These systems combine high-performance HTS RF filters with cryocooled semiconductor preamplifiers to offer enhanced sensitivity to improve signal reception and exceptional selectivity to reject interfering signals. There are now thousands of installed HTS systems and the prospects are good for widespread future deployment. This paper discusses the underlying technologies that support HTS wireless applications, based upon the characteristic microwave properties of HTS thin films and substrates. HTS filter design technology has been under development for a decade and has gained a fair measure of maturity in terms of design tools, simulation techniques, and available topologies. The need for extremely narrow-band filters, highly selective filters, frequency-agile filters, and very compact filter designs has led to many technology advances. On the system level, comparable advances in cryocooler technology and cryopackaging have enabled the development of a broadly deployable technology. We discuss industry trends and the methodologies and results of simulations and real-world measurements of HTS filter systems.     

Optimal LC-VCO design through evolutionary algorithms

The need for implementing low cost, fully integrated RF wireless transceivers has motivated the widespread use CMOS technology. However, in the particular case for voltage-controlled oscillators (VCO) where ever more stringent specifications in terms of phase-noise must be attained, the design of the on-chip LC tank is a challenging task, where fully advantage of the actual technologies characteristics must be pushed to nearly its limits. To overcome phase-noise limitations arising from the low quality factor of integrated inductors, optimization design methodologies are usually used. In this paper a model-based optimization approach is proposed. In this work the characterization of the oscillator behaviour is guaranteed by a set of analytical models describing each circuit element performance. A set of working examples for UMC130 technology, aiming the minimization of both VCO phase noise and power consumption, is addressed. The results presented, illustrate the potential of a GA optimization procedure design methodology yielding accurate and timely efficient oscillator designs. The validity of the results is checked against HSPICE/RF simulations.     

Design Technologies for Silicon-Based High-Efficiency RF Power Amplifiers： A Brief Overview

This paper presents a brief overview of several promising design technologies for high efficiency silicon-based radio frequency （RF） power amplifiers （PAs） as well as the use of these technologies in mobile broadband wireless communications. Four important aspects of PA design are addressed in this paper. First, we look at class-E PA design equations and provide an example of a class-E PA that achieves efficiency of 65-70% at 2.4 GHz. Then, we discuss state-of-the-art envelope tracking （ET） design for monolithic wideband RF mobile transmitter applications. A brief overview of Doherty PA design for the next-generation wireless handset applications is then given. Towards the end of the paper, we discuss an inherently broadband and highly efficient class-J PA design targeting future multi-band multi-standard wireless communication protocols.     

Digital techniques for integrated frequency synthesizers: a tutorial - [integrated circuits for communications]

Frequency synthesizers are essential components of modern, integrated wireless transceivers. Traditional analog and mixed-signal circuit design techniques are proving ineffective in achieving the challenging performance demands placed on these synthesizers, particularly in very fine fabrication technologies. Digital-intensive architectures and related digital signal processing techniques offer a robust, scalable alternative. A tutorial of the basic problems with frequency synthesizers, and a slew of recent digital techniques devoted to improving their performance, is presented.     

A review of latchup and electrostatic discharge (ESD) in BiCMOS RF silicon germanium technologies: Part I—ESD

Electrostatic discharge (ESD) continues to be a semiconductor quality and reliability area of interest as semiconductor components are reduced to smaller dimensions. The combination of scaling, design integration, circuit performance objectives, new applications, and the evolving system environments, ESD robustness will continue to be a technology concern. With the transition from silicon bipolar junction transistor to modern BiCMOS silicon germanium (SiGe) semiconductor technologies, new semiconductor process and integration issues have evolved which influence both device performance and ESD protection. Additionally, the issues of low cost, low power and radio frequency (RF) GHz performance objectives has lead to both revolutionary as well as derivative technologies; these have opened new doors for discovery, development and research in the area of on-chip ESD protection and design. With the growth of interest of ESD in RF technology, new innovations and inventions are occurring at a rapid pace. In this paper, we will provide an introductory review of silicon germanium technology and ESD.     

射频集成电路测试技术研究

射频集成电路(RFIC)是无线通信、雷达等电子系统中非常关键的器件，由于其高频特点，准确评估RFIC的性能具有相当的难度。文章以射频低噪声放大器(LNA)为例，运用微波理论，分析了RFIC典型参数，如S参数、带宽、PldB、OIP3以及噪声系数等的测试原理和测试方法，并对影响RFIC性能测试的主要因素进行了分析。最后，给出了一种LNA电路的测试结果。     

Current status of CMOS low voltage and low power wireless IC designs

This paper surveys recent research on CMOS low voltage and low power IC designs for wireless applications. Advancements and challenges in using nanometer IC processes are addressed, and the impacts of device scaling on wireless systems are discussed. Recent advances in device technologies and system architectures are presented. State-of-the-art low power wireless systems, both from academia and from industry, are summarized. Circuit design techniques and challenges for low voltage and low power applications are discussed, along with RF performance and power trade-offs. Examples of common RF building blocks, e.g. LNA's and VCO's, designed for sub-1V power supplies are presented.     

Laser cross-link systems and technology

Laser communications offer a viable alternative to RF communications for intersatellite links and other applications where high-performance links are a necessity. High data rate, small antenna size, narrow beam divergence, and a narrow field of view are characteristics of laser communications that offer a number of potential advantages for system design. This article presents an overview and tutorial of laser cross-link systems and technologies     

光子太赫兹通信技术

随着无线数据传输速率需求的爆炸式增长,太赫兹频段(0.1~10 THz)以其丰富的频谱资源备受关注。太赫兹光子学的通信技术因具有超宽带、调制效率高、谐波干扰小等技术优势,被公认可以极大地促进数据传输速率向Tbit/s发展。本文以光子太赫兹通信3个方面关键技术的综述分析为基础,包括光子太赫兹通信的收发器件、基带信号处理技术、系统架构与实验验证等,探讨光子太赫兹通信技术的发展趋势,并从宏观与微观尺度展望光子太赫兹通信的潜在应用场景。     

第4代移动通信的几种制式特点及应用前景

随着移动通信技术的发展,将迎来第4代移动通信时代。它能达到更快的数据传输速率,提供优质多样而价格低廉的服务。本文分析了4G发展的可能的几种模式的特点及发展前景,在此基础上对4G通信的发展提出了4种构想,并对中国未来通信发展进行了展望。     

RF CMOS transceivers for cellular telephony

This article describes system and circuit issues related to cellular transceivers, presenting design techniques that have provided high performance in CMOS technology. Following an overview of relevant GSM and WCDMA specifications, the article identifies four trends in RF design that have continued to improve the performance. Examples of CMOS transceivers, and circuit and device concepts are then described that meet the stringent requirements of cellular telephony.