rf

Circuit Design for RF Transceivers covers key building blocks which are needed to make an integrated transceiver for wireless and cellular applications, that is low-noise amplifiers, mixers, voltage controlled oscillators, RF power amplifiers and phase-locked loop systems. Starting from detailed RF concepts and specifications, the authors discuss the circuits in detail and provide solutions to many design problems. The circuits are implemented in a wide range of modern technology processes. Production requirements are taken into account, and measurement results are presented and discussed. Several of the presented circuits are used in IC products. The text also includes several RF technologies (for example double-poly, Silicon-on-Anything, SiGe-bipolar, RF-CMOS, etc.) and microwave design techniques, such as transmission line concepts. In addition, the problem of connecting the RF signals on-chip to the PCB and to the antenna will be discussed, including the influence of the package, ESD and bond pads.

Wireless communication systems are persistently applying wider bandwidths, larger signal dynamics and higher carrier frequencies to fulfil the demand for higher data rates. This results in an ever increasing demand on the performance of low-cost and power-efficient radio frequency (RF) front-ends. Since the RF technology is, consequently, pushed to its operation boundaries, the intrinsic imperfections of the RF IC technology are more and more governing the system performance of wireless modems.

The design and use of multi-standard RF transceivers is the way to increase hardware flexibility and functionality, as well as to improve the flexibility of set-makers on the market. In the design of multi-standard RF transceivers the efforts will be directed towards improvement of hardware reusability, reconfigurability, programmability and flexibility. This will result in the launching of a software-defined radio.