Antenne Integrate Attive

Antenne Integrate Attive (“Active Patch Antennas”) represents the first issue of the series «Quaderni del Dottorato di Ricerca in Ingegneria dell’Informazione» ("Issues of the PhD course in Information Engineering”) of the University of Florence, used as a didactic support to the PhD course bearing the same name. Active patch antennas, object of the publication and introduced as the enabling technology for high performance multifunctional front-ends for radar and communication systems, are currently also being used for Personal Area Networks (PAN) and for Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC), at a low cost and power. In the arrays for space applications, where reliability is a key aspect, the approach to distributed active elements allows the improvement of the entire system’s defect tolerance. The issue is organized into six chapters. The first three chapters present the basic concepts related to radio links, the definition of the used parameters and their involvement in the constitutive relationships. In the fourth and fifth chapters, the design methods of the main antenna configurations are discussed, and some examples of application are provided. Finally, chapter six reviews the analysis methods used in modern software for electromagnetic and microwave circuit simulation

New design methodologies for microwave oscillators based on negative impedance. Study and development of the solution space concept

The topic of this thesis concern the study of new design methodologies for microwave oscillators based on negative impedance and LC resonant circuits. For this class of systems, it is not ordinary possibile to predict the stationary behaviour of the circuit without use non linear analysis methodologies, but these are very e complicated and not very helpful for the design. Indeed, for microwave circuits, the design technique is that of reflection parameters "S" that describe with accuracy only linear systems and shaped them in response to small signal conditions. Therefore the only way to design a good oscillator is through experience and try and error procedures. By Developping a CAD tool that allows to represent in graphical form all possibile solutions (The Solution Space) for which an amplifier and two passive networks (feedback and loads) are able to give a negative impedance looking by other port, a new design methodology has been presented. This methodology use only S small signal parameters and allows to guarantee the start-up for a given frequency when the other port is colsed with a proper LC circuit, and moreover is able to predict the behaviour of the system in steady state. Then became easily possibile to design the system in order to maximize the output power and reduce the phase noise. The proposed methodology is then successfully used in the design of a 38GHz VCO. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ L’oggetto di questa tesi è lo studio di nuove metodologie di progetto per oscillatori a microonde costituiti da un blocco di impedenza negativa e un circuito risonante LC. Per tale classe di sistemi la difficoltà nella procedura di progettazione consiste nel non aver ancora trovato una chiave che permettesse di prevederne il comportamento a regime senza l’utilizzo di metodi di analisi non lineare, notoriamente molto complicati e poco utili per il progetto. Infatti, per i circuiti a microonde, la tecnica universalmente adottata è quella dell’utilizzo dei parametri di riflessione “S” che descrivono con veridicità solamente sistemi lineari e modellati in risposta a condizioni di piccolo segnale. Non esistono quindi metodologie per gli oscillatori che vengono progettati secondo esperienza procedure del tipo try and error. Sviluppando al calcolatore un tool che permette la rappresentazione grafica dell’insieme delle soluzioni (Spazio delle Soluzioni) per cui un sistema costituito da amplificatore e reti passive di reazione e di carico possono generare una resistenza negativa ad una porta si è messa appunto una metodologia che non solo garantisce le condizioni di innesco del sistema quando la restante porta viene chiusa da un opportuno circuito risonante, di cui è possibile estrarre le caratteristiche, ma anche di prevedere unicamente utilizzando i parametri a piccolo segnale, il comportamento del sistema a largo segnale e di progettare l’oscillatore in maniera scientifica secondo le specifiche desiderate. La metodologia proposta viene quindi applicata con successo al progetto di un VCO a 38GHz

Circuit design and technological limitations of silicon RFICs for wireless applications

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2002.Includes bibliographical references (p. 201-206).Semiconductor technologies have been a key to the growth in wireless communication over the past decade, bringing added convenience and accessibility through advantages in cost, size, and power dissipation. A better understanding of how an IC technology affects critical RF signal chain components will greatly aid the design of wireless systems and the development of process technologies for the increasingly complex applications that lie on the horizon. Many of the evolving applications will embody the concept of adaptive performance to extract the maximum capability from the RF link in terms of bandwidth, dynamic range, and power consumption-further engaging the interplay of circuits and devices is this design space and making it even more difficult to discern a clear guide upon which to base technology decisions. Rooted in these observations, this research focuses on two key themes: 1) devising methods of implementing RF circuits which allow the performance to be dynamically tuned to match real-time conditions in a power-efficient manner, and 2) refining approaches for thinking about the optimization of RF circuits at the device level. Working toward a 5.8 GHz receiver consistent with 1 GBit/s operation, signal path topologies and adjustable biasing circuits are developed for low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) and voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) to provide a facility by which power can be conserved when the demand for sensitivity is low. As an integral component in this effort, tools for exploring device level issues are illustrated with both circuit types, helping to identify physical limitations and design techniques through which they can be mitigated.(cont.) The design of two LNAs and four VCOs is described, each realized to provide a fully-integrated solution in a 0.5 tm SiGe BiCMOS process, and each incorporating all biasing and impedance matching on chip. Measured results for these 5-6GHz circuits allow a number of poignant technology issues to be enlightened, including an exhibition of the importance of terminal resistances and capacitances, a demonstration of where the transistor fT is relevant and where it is not, and the most direct comparison of bipolar and CMOS solutions offered to date in this frequency range. In addition to covering a number of new circuit techniques, this work concludes with some new views regarding IC technologies for RF applications.by Donald A. Hitko.Ph.D

CMOS Signal Synthesizers for Emerging RF-to-Optical Applications

The need for clean and powerful signal generation is ubiquitous, with applications spanning the spectrum from RF to mm-Wave, to into and beyond the terahertz-gap. RF applications including mobile telephony and microprocessors have effectively harnessed mixed-signal integration in CMOS to realize robust on-chip signal sources calibrated against adverse ambient conditions. Combined with low cost and high yield, the CMOS component of hand-held devices costs a few cents per part per million parts. This low cost, and integrated digital processing, make CMOS an attractive option for applications like high-resolution imaging and ranging, and the emerging 5-G communication space. RADAR techniques when expanded to optical frequencies can enable micrometers of resolution for 3D imaging. These applications, however, impose upto 100x more exacting specifications on power and spectral purity at much higher frequencies than conventional RF synthesizers. This generation of applications will present unconventional challenges for transistor technologies - whether it is to squeeze performance in the conventionally used spectrum, already wrung dry, or signal generation and system design in the relatively emptier mm-Wave to sub-mmWave spectrum, much of the latter falling in the ``Terahertz Gap". Indeed, transistor scaling and innovative device physics leading to new transistor topologies have yielded higher cut-off frequencies in CMOS, though still lagging well behind SiGe and III-V semiconductors. To avoid multimodule solutions with functionality partitioned across different technologies, CMOS must be pushed out of its comfort zone, and technology scaling has to have accompanying breakthroughs in design approaches not only at the system but also at the block level. In this thesis, while not targeting a specific application, we seek to formulate the obstacles in synthesizing high frequency, high power and low noise signals in CMOS and construct a coherent design methodology to address them. Based on this, three novel prototypes to overcome the limiting factors in each case are presented. The first half of this thesis deals with high frequency signal synthesis and power generation in CMOS. Outside the range of frequencies where the transistor has gain, frequency generation necessitates harmonic extraction either as harmonic oscillators or as frequency multipliers. We augment the traditional maximum oscillation frequency metric (fmax), which only accounts for transistor losses, with passive component loss to derive an effective fmax metric. We then present a methodology for building oscillators at this fmax, the Maximum Gain Ring Oscillator. Next, we explore generating large signals beyond fmax through harmonic extraction in multipliers. Applying concepts of waveform shaping, we demonstrate a Power Mixer that engineers transistor nonlinearity by manipulating the amplitudes and relative phase shifts of different device nodes to maximize performance at a specific harmonic beyond device cut-off. The second half proposes a new architecture for an ultra-low noise phase-locked loop (PLL), the Reference-Sampling PLL. In conventional PLLs, a noisy buffer converts the slow, low-noise sine-wave reference signal to a jittery square-wave clock against which the phase of a noisy voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) is corrected. We eliminate this reference buffer, and measure phase error by sampling the reference sine-wave with the 50x faster VCO waveform already available on chip, and selecting the relevant sample with voltage proportional to phase error. By avoiding the N-squared multiplication of the high-power reference buffer noise, and directly using voltage-mode phase error to control the VCO, we eliminate several noisy components in the controlling loop for ultra-low integrated jitter for a given power consumption. Further, isolation of the VCO tank from any varying load, unlike other contemporary divider-less PLL architectures, results in an architecture with record performance in the low-noise and low-spur space. We conclude with work that brings together concepts developed for clean, high-power signal generation towards a hybrid CMOS-Optical approach to Frequency-Modulated Continuous-Wave (FMCW) Light-Detection-And-Ranging (LIDAR). Cost-effective tunable lasers are temperature-sensitive and have nonlinear tuning profiles, rendering precise frequency modulations or 'chirps' untenable. Locking them to an electronic reference through an electro-optic PLL, and electronically calibrating the control signal for nonlinearity and ambient sensitivity, can make such chirps possible. Approaches that build on the body of advances in electrical PLLs to control the performance, and ease the specification on the design of optical systems are proposed. Eventually, we seek to leverage the twin advantages of silicon-intensive integration and low-cost high-yield towards developing a single-chip solution that uses on-chip signal processing and phased arrays to generate precise and robust chirps for an electronically-steerable fine LIDAR beam

Silicon-Based Terahertz Circuits and Systems

The Terahertz frequency range, often referred to as the `Terahertz' gap, lies wedged between microwave at the lower end and infrared at the higher end of the spectrum, occupying frequencies between 0.3-3.0 THz. For a long time, applications in THz frequencies had been limited to astronomy and chemical sciences, but with advancement in THz technology in recent years, it has shown great promise in a wide range of applications ranging from disease diagnostics, non-invasive early skin cancer detection, label-free DNA sequencing to security screening for concealed weapons and contraband detection, global environmental monitoring, nondestructive quality control and ultra-fast wireless communication. Up until recently, the terahertz frequency range has been mostly addressed by high mobility compound III-V processes, expensive nonlinear optics, or cryogenically cooled quantum cascade lasers. A low cost, room temperature alternative can enable the development of such a wide array of applications, not currently accessible due to cost and size limitations. In this thesis, we will discuss our approach towards development of integrated terahertz technology in silicon-based processes. In the spirit of academic research, we will address frequencies close to 0.3 THz as 'Terahertz'. In this thesis, we address both fronts of integrated THz systems in silicon: THz power generation, radiation and transmitter systems, and THz signal detection and receiver systems. THz power generation in silicon-based integrated circuit technology is challenging due to lower carrier mobility, lower cut-o frequencies compared to compound III-V processes, lower breakdown voltages and lossy passives. Radiation from silicon chip is also challenging due to lossy substrates and high dielectric constant of silicon. In this work, we propose novel ways of combining circuit and electromagnetic techniques in a holistic design approach, which can overcome limitations of conventional block-by-block or partitioned design methodology, in order to generate high-frequency signals above the classical definition of cut-off frequencies (ƒt/ƒmax). We demonstrate this design philosophy in an active electromagnetic structure, which we call Distributed Active Radiator. It is inspired by an Inverse Maxwellian approach, where instead of using classical circuit and electromagnetic blocks to generate and radiate THz frequencies, we formulate surface (metal) currents in silicon chip for a desired THz field prole and develop active means of controlling different harmonic currents to perform signal generation, frequency multiplication, radiation and lossless filtering, simultaneously in a compact footprint. By removing the articial boundaries between circuits, electromagnetics and antenna, we open ourselves to a broader design space. This enabled us to demonstrate the rst 1 mW Eective-isotropic-radiated-power(EIRP) THz (0.29 THz) source in CMOS with total radiated power being three orders of magnitude more than previously demonstrated. We also proposed a near-field synchronization mechanism, which is a scalable method of realizing large arrays of synchronized autonomous radiating sources in silicon. We also demonstrate the first THz CMOS array with digitally controlled beam-scanning in 2D space with radiated output EIRP of nearly 10 mW at 0.28 THz. On the receiver side, we use a similar electronics and electromagnetics co-design approach to realize a 4x4 pixel integrated silicon Terahertz camera demonstrating to the best of our knowledge, the most sensitive silicon THz detector array without using post-processing, silicon lens or high-resistivity substrate options (NEP &lt; 10 pW &#8730; Hz at 0.26 THz). We put the 16 pixel silicon THz camera together with the CMOS DAR THz power generation arrays and demonstrated, for the first time, an all silicon THz imaging system with a CMOS source.</p

Design and analysis of wideband passive microwave devices using planar structures

A selected volume of work consisting of 84 published journal papers is presented to demonstrate the contributions made by the author in the last seven years of his work at the University of Queensland in the area of Microwave Engineering. The over-arching theme in the author’s works included in this volume is the engineering of novel passive microwave devices that are key components in the building of any microwave system. The author’s contribution covers innovative designs, design methods and analyses for the following key devices and associated systems: Wideband antennas and associated systems Band-notched and multiband antennas Directional couplers and associated systems Power dividers and associated systems Microwave filters Phase shifters Much of the motivation for the work arose from the desire to contribute to the engineering o

Desenho de antenas para sensores passivos em materiais não convencionais

Doutoramento em Engenharia EletrotécnicaMotivado pela larga expansão dos sistemas RFID e com o desenvolvimento do conceito de Internet das Coisas, a evolução no desenho e métodos de produção de antenas em suportes de materiais alternativos tem tido uma exploração intensiva nos últimos anos. Isto permitiu, não só o desenvolvimento de produtos no campo da interação homem-máquina, mas também tornar estes produtos mais pequenos e leves. A procura de novas técnicas e métodos para produzir eletrónica impressa e antenas em materiais alternativos e, portanto, uma porta aberta para o aparecimento de novas tecnologias. Isto aplica-se especialmente no mercado dos sensores, onde o peso, o tamanho, o consumo energético, e a adaptabilidade a diversos ambientes, têm grande relevância. Esta tese foca-se no desenvolvimento de antenas com suporte em materiais não convenvionais, como os já testados papel e têxteis, mas também na exploração de outros, desconhecidos do ponto de vista eléctrico, como a cortiça e polímeros biodegradáveis usados em impressão 3D. Estes materiais são portanto usados como substrato, ou material de suporte, para diversas antenas e, como tal, as propriedades electromagnéticas destes materiais têm de ser determinadas. Assim, e apresentado neste documento uma revisão de métodos de caracterização de materiais, bem como a proposta de um método baseado em linhas de trasmissão impressas, e a respectiva caracterização electromagnética de diversos materiais. Além disso, são propostos desenhos de antenas para diversos cenários e aplicações utilizando os materiais anteriormente mencionados. Com esta tese concluiu-se que a utilização de materiais alternativos e hoje uma realidade e os resultados obtidos são muito encorajodares para o desenvolvimento de um conjunto de sensores para aplicações RFID com uma grande capacidade de integração.The advancement of the design and fabrication of antennas using textiles or paper as substrates has rapidly grown motivated by the boom of RFID systems and the developing concept of the Internet of Things. These advancements have allowed, not only the development of products for manmachine interaction, but also to make these products smaller and lighter. The search for new techniques and methods to produce printed electronics and antennas in alternative materials is therefore an open door for new technologies to emerge. Especially in the sensors market, where weight, size, power consumption and the adaptability to the target application, are of great importance. This thesis focuses on the development of antenna design approaches with alternative materials, such as the already tested paper and textiles, but also others relatively unknown, such as cork and biodegradable polymers used in 3D printing. These materials are applied to act as substrates, or support structures for the antennas. Therefore, their electromagnetic properties need to be determined. Due to that, a review of electromagnetic characterization methods, as well as the proposal of a custom method based on printed transmission lines, is presented in this document. Besides, several antenna designs, for di erent application scenarios, using the previously mentioned materials, are proposed. With this thesis it was proved that it is possible to develop passive sensors in di erent alternative materials for RFID applications and others, which shows great promise in the use of these materials to achieve higher integration in sensing and identi cation applications