Survey of Robustness Enhancement Techniques for Wireless Systems-on-a-Chip and Study of Temperature as Observable for Process Variations

Built-in test and on-chip calibration features are becoming essential for reliable wireless connectivity of next generation devices suffering from increasing process variations in CMOS technologies. This paper contains an overview of contemporary self-test and performance enhancement strategies for single-chip transceivers. In general, a trend has emerged to combine several techniques involving process variability monitoring, digital calibration, and tuning of analog circuits. Special attention is directed towards the investigation of temperature as an observable for process variations, given that thermal coupling through the silicon substrate has recently been demonstrated as mechanism to monitor the performances of analog circuits. Both Monte Carlo simulations and experimental results are presented in this paper to show that circuit-level specifications exhibit correlations with silicon surface temperature changes. Since temperature changes can be measured with efficient on-chip differential temperature sensors, a conceptual outline is given for the use of temperature sensors as alternative process variation monitors.

[1]  Shan Jiang,et al.  A dual mode 802.11b/Bluetooth radio in 0.35/spl mu/m CMOS , 2003, 2003 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, 2003. Digest of Technical Papers. ISSCC..

[2]  E. Aldrete-Vidrio,et al.  Strategies for built-in characterization testing and performance monitoring of analog RF circuits with temperature measurements , 2010 .

[3]  G.G.E. Gielen,et al.  Design methodologies and tools for circuit design in CMOS nanometer technologies , 2006, 2006 Proceedings of the 32nd European Solid-State Circuits Conference.

[4]  Abhijit Chatterjee,et al.  A system-level alternate test approach for specification test of RF transceivers in loopback mode , 2005, 18th International Conference on VLSI Design held jointly with 4th International Conference on Embedded Systems Design.

[5]  I. Vassiliou,et al.  A single-chip digitally calibrated 5.15-5.825-GHz 0.18-μm CMOS transceiver for 802.11a wireless LAN , 2003, IEEE J. Solid State Circuits.

[6]  J. Silva-Martinez,et al.  An Integrated Frequency Response Characterization System With a Digital Interface for Analog Testing , 2006, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[7]  K. Agarwal,et al.  Fast Characterization of Threshold Voltage Fluctuation in MOS Devices , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing.

[8]  Jacob A. Abraham,et al.  Spectral Prediction for Specification-Based Loopback Test of Embedded Mixed-Signal Circuits , 2010, J. Electron. Test..

[9]  M.B. Ketchen,et al.  Ring oscillators for CMOS process tuning and variability control , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing.

[10]  Imran Bashir,et al.  RF Built-in Self Test of a Wireless Transmitter , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II: Express Briefs.

[11]  Antonio Rubio,et al.  Dynamic Surface Temperature Measurements in ICs , 2006, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[12]  José Luis González,et al.  Electro-thermal coupling analysis methodology for RF circuits , 2010, 2010 16th International Workshop on Thermal Investigations of ICs and Systems (THERMINIC).

[13]  Shan Jiang,et al.  A dual mode 802.11b/Bluetooth radio in 0.35μm CMOS , 2003 .

[14]  Antonio Rubio,et al.  Thermal coupling in integrated circuits: application to thermal testing , 2001, IEEE J. Solid State Circuits.

[15]  J.P.F. Glas,et al.  Digital I/Q imbalance compensation in a low-IF receiver , 1998, IEEE GLOBECOM 1998 (Cat. NO. 98CH36250).

[16]  Amir Zjajo,et al.  Evaluation of signature-based testing of RF/analog circuits , 2005, European Test Symposium (ETS'05).

[17]  H. De Man,et al.  OFDM-WLAN receiver performance improvement using digital compensation techniques , 2002, Proceedings RAWCON 2002. 2002 IEEE Radio and Wireless Conference (Cat. No.02EX573).

[18]  Keith A. Jenkins,et al.  On-chip spectrum analyzer for analog built-in self test , 2005, 23rd IEEE VLSI Test Symposium (VTS'05).

[19]  Luigi Carro,et al.  An Improved RF Loopback for Test Time Reduction , 2006, Proceedings of the Design Automation & Test in Europe Conference.

[20]  Michael,et al.  An analog mismatch calibration system for image-reject receivers , 2005, 2005 European Microwave Conference.

[21]  José Silva-Martínez,et al.  Electrothermal Design Procedure to Observe RF Circuit Power and Linearity Characteristics With a Homodyne Differential Temperature Sensor , 2011, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papers.

[22]  B. Razavi,et al.  A self-calibrating 900-MHz CMOS image-reject receiver , 2000, Proceedings of the 26th European Solid-State Circuits Conference.

[23]  Edgar Sánchez-Sinencio,et al.  Attenuation-Predistortion Linearization of CMOS OTAs With Digital Correction of Process Variations in OTA-C Filter Applications , 2010, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[24]  Edgar Sánchez-Sinencio,et al.  A Current Injection Built-In Test Technique for RF Low-Noise Amplifiers , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papers.

[25]  Gordon W. Roberts,et al.  Making complex mixed-signal telecommunication integrated circuits testable , 1999, IEEE Commun. Mag..

[26]  Tao Zhang,et al.  A translinear RMS detector for embedded test of RF ICs , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement.

[27]  I. Elahi,et al.  I/Q mismatch compensation using adaptive decorrelation in a low-IF receiver in 90-nm CMOS process , 2006, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[28]  Huey-Ru Chuang,et al.  A 5.7-GHz 0.18-μm CMOS gain-controlled differential LNA with current reuse for WLAN receiver , 2003 .

[29]  Jussi Ryynanen,et al.  Calibration techniques of active BiCMOS mixers , 2002, IEEE J. Solid State Circuits.

[30]  Tejasvi Das,et al.  Self-calibration of input-match in RF front-end circuitry , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II: Express Briefs.

[31]  Jerzy J. Dabrowski,et al.  Built-in Loopback Test for IC RF Transceivers , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) Systems.

[32]  Abhijit Chatterjee,et al.  Use of embedded sensors for built-in-test RF circuits , 2004 .

[33]  Salvador Mir,et al.  Sensors for built-in alternate RF test , 2010, 2010 15th IEEE European Test Symposium.

[34]  Alberto Valdes-Garcia,et al.  A Broadband CMOS Amplitude Detector for On-Chip RF Measurements , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement.

[35]  S. Mattisson,et al.  Sensitivity Degradation in a Tri-Band GSM BiCMOS Direct-Conversion Receiver Caused by Transient Substrate Heating , 2008, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[36]  Jamil Kawa,et al.  Design for Manufacturability and Yield for Nano-Scale CMOS , 2007, Series on Integrated Circuits and Systems.

[37]  M.A.I. Elmala,et al.  Calibration of phase and gain mismatches in Weaver image-reject receiver , 2004, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[38]  Robert B. Staszewski,et al.  A statistical approach for design and testing of analog circuitry in low-cost SoCs , 2010, 2010 53rd IEEE International Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems.

[39]  E. Beigne,et al.  An innovative timing slack monitor for variation tolerant circuits , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Conference on IC Design and Technology.

[40]  Hervé Lapuyade,et al.  A Robust 130 nm-CMOS Built-In Current Sensor Dedicated to RF Applications , 2007, J. Electron. Test..

[41]  Edgar Sánchez-Sinencio,et al.  An On-Chip Loopback Block for RF Transceiver Built-In Test , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II: Express Briefs.

[42]  Bruce C. Kim,et al.  A new low-cost RF built-in self-test measurement for system-on-chip transceivers , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement.

[43]  Qi Wang,et al.  RF front-end system gain and linearity built-in test , 2006, 24th IEEE VLSI Test Symposium.

[44]  Lu Han,et al.  A Single–Chip 10-Band WCDMA/HSDPA 4-Band GSM/EDGE SAW-less CMOS Receiver With DigRF 3G Interface and ${+}$90 dBm IIP2 , 2009, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[45]  A. Ouacha,et al.  A self-tuning technique for optimization of dual band LNA , 2008, 2008 European Conference on Wireless Technology.

[46]  Viera Stopjaková,et al.  On-chip transient current monitor for testing of low-voltage CMOS IC , 1999, DATE '99.

[47]  A. Chatterjee,et al.  Alternate loop-back diagnostic tests for wafer-level diagnosis of modern wireless transceivers using spectral signatures , 2006, 24th IEEE VLSI Test Symposium.

[48]  E. Aldrete-Vidrio,et al.  Differential Temperature Sensors Fully Compatible With a 0.35-$\mu$m CMOS Process , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Components and Packaging Technologies.

[49]  Sao-Jie Chen,et al.  An auto-I/Q calibrated CMOS transceiver for 802.11 g , 2005, ISSCC. 2005 IEEE International Digest of Technical Papers. Solid-State Circuits Conference, 2005..