Learning objectives
<font color="#000000"><font face="""Arial,""><font size="2">The course provides advanced knowledge required for approaching the design of active microwave circuits (with MMIC or RFIC techniques). </font></font></font>
Prerequisites
Theory of Noise in electronics circuits
Course unit content
<font color="#000000"><font face="""Arial,""><font size="3"><strong>Transceivers’ architectures and RF basics</strong></font></font></font>
<p lang="""en-US""" align="""justify""" style=""><font color="#000000"><font face="""Arial,""><font size="2">Black box schematic of an RF transceiver; non linearity issues: desensitization, cross-modulation, CP and IIP3, cascaded of non-linearity; noise issue: NF. Receiver sensitivity, selectivity and dynamic range. Super-heterodyne receiver: architecture, advantages and issues. Homodyne receiver: architecture, advantages and issues. Image-rejection receivers: Hartley and Weaver solutions. Transmitter’s ACP. Transmitter architectures: direct-conversion and double conversion: advantages and issues. </font></font></font> </p>
<p lang="""en-US""" align="""justify""" style="" widows:="""" orphans:=""""><font color="#000000"><font face="""Arial,""><font size="3"><strong>Matching</strong></font></font></font></p>
<p lang="""en-US""" align="""justify""" style="" widows:="""" orphans:=""""><font color="#000000"><font face="""Arial,""><font size="2"><span lang="""en-US""">Noise, power and line matching. Matching networks: using discrete components or microstrip. Stub: single and double stub</span></font></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="""Arial,""><span lang="""en-US"""> matching techniques. Using the Smith chart in the design of the matching networks.</span><font size="3"><strong><br />
</strong></font></font></font></p>
<p lang="""en-US""" align="""justify""" style="" widows:="""" orphans:=""""><font color="#000000"><font face="""Arial,""><font size="3"><strong>LNA (Low Noise Amplifier)</strong></font></font></font></p>
<p lang="""en-US""" align="""justify""" style="" widows:="""" orphans:=""""> <font color="#000000"><font face="""Arial,""><font size="2">Gain consideration: power gain, transducer power gain and available power gain; Noise consideration. Stability consideration. Constant gain, noise and stability circles. Amplifier design: optimizing for power and noise. Design of integrated LNA.</font></font></font></p>
<font color="#000000"><font face="""Arial,""><font size="3"><strong><br />
VCO and PLL</strong></font></font></font>
<p lang="""en-US""" align="""justify""" style="" widows:="""" orphans:=""""> <font color="#000000"><font face="""Arial,""><font size="2">Microwave oscillators (Gunn diode and single-transistor architecture). Design of RF VCO. Phase noise and tuning range. PLLs.<br />
</font></font></font></p>
<p lang="""en-US""" align="""justify""" style="" widows:="""" orphans:=""""> <font color="#000000"><font face="""Arial,""><font size="3"><strong>Simulation techniques</strong></font></font></font></p>
<p lang="""en-US""" align="""justify""" style="" widows:="""" orphans:=""""> <font color="#000000"><font face="""Arial,""><font size="2">Harmonic-balance and SpectreRF.</font></font></font></p>
<p lang="""en-US""" align="""justify""" style="" widows:="""" orphans:=""""> <font color="#000000"><font size="3"><font face="""Arial,""><strong>RF design Laboratory</strong></font></font></font></p>
<p lang="""en-US""" align="""justify""" style="" widows:="""" orphans:=""""> <font color="#000000"><font face="""Arial,""><font size="2">Design and simulation of LNAs using Agilent-ADS.</font></font></font></p>
Bibliography
<p lang=""en-US"" orphans:="" widows:="" margin-bottom:="" padding:="" none="" medium="" style=""> <font color="#000000"><font face=""Arial,"><font size="2" style="">B. Razavi, “RF Microelectronics”, Prentice-Hall.</font></font></font></p>
<p lang=""en-US"" orphans:="" widows:="" margin-bottom:="" padding:="" none="" medium="" style=""> <font color="#000000"><font face=""Arial,"><font size="2" style="">David M. Pozar, “Microwave Engineering, 2nd edition”, Wiley</font></font></font></p>
Teaching methods
The assigned project must be completed in order to get access to the oral exam.
