A New CMOS Fully Differential Low Noise Amplifier for Wideband Applications

In this paper, a multi-stage fully differential low noise amplifier (LNA) has been presented for wideband applications. A common-gate input stage is used to improve the input impedance matching and linearity. A common-source stage is also used as the second stage to enhance gain and reduce noise. A shunt-shunt feedback is employed to extend bandwidth and enhance linearity. The proposed low noise amplifier has been designed and simulated using RF-TSMC 0.18 μm CMOS process technology. In frequency band of 3.5-7.5 GHz, this amplifier has a flat power gain (S21) of 16.5 ± 1.5 dB, low noise figure (NF) of 3dB, input (S11) and output (S22) return losses less than -10 dB and high linearity with input thirdorder intercept point (IIP3) of -3dBm. It’s power consumption is also less than 10 mw with low power supply voltage of 0.8v

A Review of CMOS Low Noise Amplifier for UWB System

A number of CMOS low noise amplifier (LNA) design for ultra-wideband (UWB) application had been produced with a various topology and techniques from year 2004 to 2016. The performance of LNA such as frequency bandwidth, noise figure, input and output matching and gain depend with the choice of the topology and technique used. Among the techniques introduced are current reuse, common source, resistive feedback, common gate, Chebyshev filter, distributed amplifier, folded cascade and negative feedback. This paper presents the collection of review about design of low noise amplifier used for UWB application in term of topology circuit. Thus, the problem and limitation of the CMOS LNA for UWB application are reviewed. Furthermore, recent developments of CMOS LNAs are examined and a comparison of the performance criteria of various topologies is presented

CMOS Power Amplifier Design Techniques for UWB Communication: A Review

This paper reviews CMOS power amplifier (PA) design techniques in favour of ultra-wideband (UWB) application. The PA circuit design is amongst the most difficult delegation in developing the UWB transmitter due to conditions that must be achieved, including high gain, good input and output matching, efficiency, linearity, low group delay and low power consumption. In order to meet these requirements, many researchers came up with different techniques. Among the techniques used are distributed amplifiers, resistive shunt feedback, RLC matching, shuntshunt feedback, inductive source degeneration, current reuse, shunt peaking, and stagger tuning. Therefore, problems and limitation of UWB CMOS PA and circuit topology are reviewed. A number of works on the UWB CMOS PA from the year 2004 to 2016 are reviewed in this paper. In recent developments, UWB CMOS PA are analysed, hence imparting a comparison of performance criteria based on several different topologies

Dual-band FSK receiver and building block design for UWB impulse radio

Master'sMASTER OF ENGINEERIN

Reconfigurable Receiver Front-Ends for Advanced Telecommunication Technologies

The exponential growth of converging technologies, including augmented reality, autonomous vehicles, machine-to-machine and machine-to-human interactions, biomedical and environmental sensory systems, and artificial intelligence, is driving the need for robust infrastructural systems capable of handling vast data volumes between end users and service providers. This demand has prompted a significant evolution in wireless communication, with 5G and subsequent generations requiring exponentially improved spectral and energy efficiency compared to their predecessors. Achieving this entails intricate strategies such as advanced digital modulations, broader channel bandwidths, complex spectrum sharing, and carrier aggregation scenarios. A particularly challenging aspect arises in the form of non-contiguous aggregation of up to six carrier components across the frequency range 1 (FR1). This necessitates receiver front-ends to effectively reject out-of-band (OOB) interferences while maintaining high-performance in-band (IB) operation. Reconfigurability becomes pivotal in such dynamic environments, where frequency resource allocation, signal strength, and interference levels continuously change. Software-defined radios (SDRs) and cognitive radios (CRs) emerge as solutions, with direct RF-sampling receivers offering a suitable architecture in which the frequency translation is entirely performed in digital domain to avoid analog mixing issues. Moreover, direct RF- sampling receivers facilitate spectrum observation, which is crucial to identify free zones, and detect interferences. Acoustic and distributed filters offer impressive dynamic range and sharp roll off characteristics, but their bulkiness and lack of electronic adjustment capabilities limit their practicality. Active filters, on the other hand, present opportunities for integration in advanced CMOS technology, addressing size constraints and providing versatile programmability. However, concerns about power consumption, noise generation, and linearity in active filters require careful consideration.This thesis primarily focuses on the design and implementation of a low-voltage, low-power RFFE tailored for direct sampling receivers in 5G FR1 applications. The RFFE consists of a balun low-noise amplifier (LNA), a Q-enhanced filter, and a programmable gain amplifier (PGA). The balun-LNA employs noise cancellation, current reuse, and gm boosting for wideband gain and input impedance matching. Leveraging FD-SOI technology allows for programmable gain and linearity via body biasing. The LNA's operational state ranges between high-performance and high-tolerance modes, which are apt for sensitivityand blocking tests, respectively. The Q-enhanced filter adopts noise-cancelling, current-reuse, and programmable Gm-cells to realize a fourth-order response using two resonators. The fourth-order filter response is achieved by subtracting the individual response of these resonators. Compared to cascaded and magnetically coupled fourth-order filters, this technique maintains the large dynamic range of second-order resonators. Fabricated in 22-nm FD-SOI technology, the RFFE achieves 1%-40% fractional bandwidth (FBW) adjustability from 1.7 GHz to 6.4 GHz, 4.6 dB noise figure (NF) and an OOB third-order intermodulation intercept point (IIP3) of 22 dBm. Furthermore, concerning the implementation uncertainties and potential variations of temperature and supply voltage, design margins have been considered and a hybrid calibration scheme is introduced. A combination of on-chip and off-chip calibration based on noise response is employed to effectively adjust the quality factors, Gm-cells, and resonance frequencies, ensuring desired bandpass response. To optimize and accelerate the calibration process, a reinforcement learning (RL) agent is used.Anticipating future trends, the concept of the Q-enhanced filter extends to a multiple-mode filter for 6G upper mid-band applications. Covering the frequency range from 8 to 20 GHz, this RFFE can be configured as a fourth-order dual-band filter, two bandpass filters (BPFs) with an OOB notch, or a BPF with an IB notch. In cognitive radios, the filter’s transmission zeros can be positioned with respect to the carrier frequencies of interfering signals to yield over 50 dB blocker rejection

Characterization of 28 nm FDSOI MOS and application to the design of a low-power 2.4 GHz LNA

IoT is expected to connect billions of devices all over world in the next years, and in a near future, it is expected to use LR-WPAN in a wide variety of applications. Not all the devices will require of high performance but will require of low power hungry systems since most of them will be powered with a battery. Conventional CMOS technologies cannot cover these needs even scaling it to very small regimes, which appear other problems. Hence, new technologies are emerging to cover the needs of this devices. One promising technology is the UTBB FDSOI, which achieves good performance with very good energy efficiency. This project characterizes this technology to obtain a set of parameters of interest for analog/RF design. Finally, with the help of a low-power design methodology (gm/Id approach), a design of an ULP ULV LNA is performed to check the suitability of this technology for IoT

A Millimeter-Wave Coexistent RFIC Receiver Architecture in 0.18-µm SiGe BiCMOS for Radar and Communication Systems

Innovative circuit architectures and techniques to enhance the performance of several key BiCMOS RFIC building blocks applied in radar and wireless communication systems operating at the millimeter-wave frequencies are addressed in this dissertation. The former encapsulates the development of an advanced, low-cost and miniature millimeter-wave coexistent current mode direct conversion receiver for short-range, high-resolution radar and high data rate communication systems. A new class of broadband low power consumption active balun-LNA consisting of two common emitters amplifiers mutually coupled thru an AC stacked transformer for power saving and gain boosting. The active balun-LNA exhibits new high linearity technique using a constant gm cell transconductance independent of input-outputs variations based on equal emitters’ area ratios. A novel multi-stages active balun-LNA with innovative technique to mitigate amplitude and phase imbalances is proposed. The new multi-stages balun-LNA technique consists of distributed feed-forward averaging recycles correction for amplitude and phase errors and is insensitive to unequal paths parasitic from input to outputs. The distributed averaging recycles correction technique resolves the amplitude and phase errors residuals in a multi-iterative process. The new multi-stages balun-LNA averaging correction technique is frequency independent and can perform amplitude and phase calibrations without relying on passive lumped elements for compensation. The multi-stage balun-LNA exhibits excellent performance from 10 to 50 GHz with amplitude and phase mismatches less than 0.7 dB and 2.86º, respectively. Furthermore, the new multi-stages balun-LNA operates in current mode and shows high linearity with low power consumption. The unique balun-LNA design can operates well into mm-wave regions and is an integral block of the mm-wave radar and communication systems. The integration of several RFIC blocks constitutes the broadband millimeter-wave coexistent current mode direct conversion receiver architecture operating from 22- 44 GHz. The system and architectural level analysis provide a unique understanding into the receiver characteristics and design trade-offs. The RF front-end is based on the broadband multi-stages active balun-LNA coupled into a fully balanced passive mixer with an all-pass in-phase/quadrature phase generator. The trans-impedance amplifier converts the input signal current into a voltage gain at the outputs. Simultaneously, the high power input signal current is channelized into an anti-aliasing filter with 20 dB rejection for out of band interferers. In addition, the dissertation demonstrates a wide dynamic range system with small die area, cost effective and very low power consumption

A Millimeter-Wave Coexistent RFIC Receiver Architecture in 0.18-µm SiGe BiCMOS for Radar and Communication Systems

Innovative circuit architectures and techniques to enhance the performance of several key BiCMOS RFIC building blocks applied in radar and wireless communication systems operating at the millimeter-wave frequencies are addressed in this dissertation. The former encapsulates the development of an advanced, low-cost and miniature millimeter-wave coexistent current mode direct conversion receiver for short-range, high-resolution radar and high data rate communication systems. A new class of broadband low power consumption active balun-LNA consisting of two common emitters amplifiers mutually coupled thru an AC stacked transformer for power saving and gain boosting. The active balun-LNA exhibits new high linearity technique using a constant gm cell transconductance independent of input-outputs variations based on equal emitters’ area ratios. A novel multi-stages active balun-LNA with innovative technique to mitigate amplitude and phase imbalances is proposed. The new multi-stages balun-LNA technique consists of distributed feed-forward averaging recycles correction for amplitude and phase errors and is insensitive to unequal paths parasitic from input to outputs. The distributed averaging recycles correction technique resolves the amplitude and phase errors residuals in a multi-iterative process. The new multi-stages balun-LNA averaging correction technique is frequency independent and can perform amplitude and phase calibrations without relying on passive lumped elements for compensation. The multi-stage balun-LNA exhibits excellent performance from 10 to 50 GHz with amplitude and phase mismatches less than 0.7 dB and 2.86º, respectively. Furthermore, the new multi-stages balun-LNA operates in current mode and shows high linearity with low power consumption. The unique balun-LNA design can operates well into mm-wave regions and is an integral block of the mm-wave radar and communication systems. The integration of several RFIC blocks constitutes the broadband millimeter-wave coexistent current mode direct conversion receiver architecture operating from 22- 44 GHz. The system and architectural level analysis provide a unique understanding into the receiver characteristics and design trade-offs. The RF front-end is based on the broadband multi-stages active balun-LNA coupled into a fully balanced passive mixer with an all-pass in-phase/quadrature phase generator. The trans-impedance amplifier converts the input signal current into a voltage gain at the outputs. Simultaneously, the high power input signal current is channelized into an anti-aliasing filter with 20 dB rejection for out of band interferers. In addition, the dissertation demonstrates a wide dynamic range system with small die area, cost effective and very low power consumption

Ultra-Wideband Transceiver with Error Correction for Cortical Interfaces in NanometerCMOS Process

This dissertation reports a high-speed wideband wireless transmission solution for the tight power constraints of cortical interface application. The proposed system deploysImpulse Radio Ultra-wideband (IR-UWB) technique to achieve very high-rate communication. However, impulse radio signals suffer from significant attenuation within the body,and power limitations force the use of very low-power receiver circuits which introduce additional noise and jitter. Moreover, the coils’ self-resonance has to be suppressed to minimize the pulse distortion and inter-symbol interference, adding significant attenuation. To compensate these losses, an Error correction code (ECC) layer is added for functioning reliably to the system. The performance evaluation is made by modeling a pair of physically fabricated coils, and the results show that the ECC is essential to obtain the system’s reliability. Furthermore, the gm/ID methodology, which is based on the complete exploration ofall inversion regions that the transistors are biased, is studied and explored for optimizingthe system at the circuit-level. Specific focuses are on the RF blocks: the low noise am-plifier (LNA) and the injection-locked voltage controlled oscillator (IL-VCO). Through the analytical deduction of the circuit’s features as the function of the gm/ID for each transistor, it is possible to select the optimum operating region for the circuit to achieve the target specification. Other circuit blocks, including the phase shifter, frequency divider,mixer, etc. are also described and analyzed. The prototype is fabricated in a 65-nm CMOS(Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) process

Simulation and Design of an UWB Imaging System for Breast Cancer Detection

Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer among women. In recent years, the mortality rate due to this disease is greatly decreased thanks to both enormous progress in cancer research, and screening campaigns which have allowed the increase in the number of early diagnoses of the disease. In fact, if the tumor is identied in its early stage, e.g. when it has a diameter of less than one centimeter, the possibility of a cure can reach 93%. However, statistics show that more young aged women are suered breast cancer. The goal of screening exams for early breast cancer detection is to nd cancers before they start to cause symptoms. Regular mass screening of all women at risk is a good option to achieve that. Instead of meeting very high diagnostic standards, it is expected to yield an early warning, not a denitive diagnosis. In the last decades, X-ray mammography is the most ecient screening technique. However, it uses ionizing radiation and, therefore, should not be used for frequent check-ups. Besides, it requires signicant breast compression, which is often painful. In this scenario many alternative technologies were developed to overcome the limitations of mammography. Among these possibilities, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is too expensive and time-consuming, Ultrasound is considered to be too operatordependent and low specicity, which are not suitable for mass screening. Microwave imaging techniques, especially Ultra WideBand (UWB) radar imaging, is the most interesting one. The reason of this interest relies on the fact that microwaves are non-ionizing thus permitting frequent examinations. Moreover, it is potentially lowcost and more ecient for young women. Since it has been demonstrated in the literatures that the dielectric constants between cancerous and healthy tissues are quite dierent, the technique consists in illuminating these biological tissues with microwave radiations by one or more antennas and analyzing the re ected signals. An UWB imaging system consists of transmitters, receivers and antennas for the RF part, the transmission channel and of a digital backend imaging unit for processing the received signals. When an UWB pulse strikes the breast, the pulse is re ected due to the dielectric discontinuity in tissues, the bigger the dierence, the bigger the backscatter. The re ected signals are acquired and processed to create the energy maps. This thesis aims to develop an UWB system at high resolution for the detection of carcinoma breast already in its initial phase. To favor the adoption of this method in screening campaigns, it is necessary to replace the expensive and bulky RF instrumentation used so far with ad-hoc designed circuits and systems. In order to realize that, at the very beginning, the overall system environment must be built and veried, which mainly consists of the transmission channel{the breast model and the imaging unit. The used transmission channel data come from MRI of the prone patient. In order to correctly use this numerical model, a simulator was built, which was implemented in Matlab, according to the Finite-Dierence-Time- Domain (FDTD) method. FDTD algorithm solves the electric and magnetic eld both in time and in space, thus, simulates the propagation of electromagnetic waves in the breast model. To better understand the eect of the system non-idealities, two 2D breast models are investigated, one is homogeneous, the other is heterogeneous. Moreover, the modeling takes into account all critical aspects, including stability and medium dispersion. Given the types of tissues under examination, the frequency dependence of tissue dielectric properties is incorporated into wideband FDTD simulations using Debye dispersion parameters. A performed further study is in the implementation of the boundary conditions. The Convolution Perfectly Matched Layer (CPML) is used to implement the absorbing boundaries. The objective of the imaging unit is to obtain an energy map representing the amount of energy re ected from each point of the breast, by recombining the sampled backscattered signals. For this purpose, the study has been carried out on various beamforming in the literature. The basic idea is called as "delay and sum", which is to align the received signals in such a way as to focus a given point in space and then add up all the contributions, so as to obtain a constructive interference at that point if this is a diseased tissue. In this work, Microwave Imaging via Space Time (MIST) Beamforming algorithm is applied, which is based on the above principle and add more elaborations of the signals in order to make the algorithm less sensitive to propagation phenomena in the medium and to the non-idealities of the system. It is divided into two distinct steps: the rst step, called SKin Artifact Removal (SKAR), takes care of removing the contributions from the signal caused by the direct path between the transmitter and receiver, the re ection of skin, as they are orders of magnitude higher compared to the re ections caused by cancers; the second step, which is BEAmForming (BEAF), performs the algorithm of reconstruction by forming a weighted combination of time delayed version of the calibrated re ected signals. As discussed above, more attention must be paid on the implementation of the ad-hoc integration circuits. In this scenario, due to the strict requirements on the RF receiver component, two dierent approaches of the implementation of the RF front-end, Direct Conversion (DC) receiver and Coherent Equivalent Time Sampling (CETS) receiver are compared. They are modeled behaviorally and the eects of various impairments, such as thermal, jitter, and phase noise, as well as phase inaccuracies, non-linearity, ADC quantization noise and distortion, on energy maps and on quantitative metrics such as SCR and SMR are evaluated. Dierential Gaussian pulse is chosen as the exciting source. Results show that DC receiver performs higher sensitivity to phase inaccuracies, which makes it less robust than the CETS receiver. Another advantage of the CETS receiver is that it can work in time domain with UWB pulses, other than in frequency domain with stepped frequency continuous waves like the DC one, which reduces the acquisition time without impacting the performance. Based on the results of the behavioral simulations, low noise amplier (LNA) and Track and Hold Amplier (THA) can be regarded as the most critical parts for the proposed CETS receiver, as well as the UWB antenna. This work therefore focuses on their hardware implementations. The LNA, which shows critical performance limitation at bandwidth and noise gure of receiver, has been developed based on common-gate conguration. And the THA based on Switched Source Follower (SSF) scheme has been presented and improved to obtain high input bandwidth, high sampling rate, high linearity and low power consumption. LNA and THA are implemented in CMOS 130nm technology and the circuit performance evaluation has been taken place separately and together. The small size UWB wide-slot antenna is designed and simulated in HFSS. Finally, in order to evaluate the eect of the implemented transistor level components on system performance, a multi-resolution top-down system methodology is applied. Therfore, the entire ow is analyzed for dierent levels of the RF frontend. Initially the system components are described behaviorally as ideal elements. The main activity consists in the analysis and development of the entire frontend system, observing and complementing each other blocks in a single ow simulation, clear and well-dened in its various interfaces. To achieve that the receiver is modeled and analyzed using VHDL-AMS language block by block, moreover, the impact of quantization, noise, jitter, and non-linearity is also evaluated. At last, the behavioral description of antenna, LNA and THA is replaced with a circuit-level one without changing the rest of the system, which permits a system-level assessment of low-level issues