Cellular and wireless LAN transceivers: From systems to circuit design

RF design has matured to the point where almost any wireless standard (e.g., GSM, WiFi, Bluetooth, etc.) and/or multiple standards operating in different bands can be integrated onto a single chip in deep submicron CMOS. This course is an in-depth tutorial that discusses many of the challenges facing the designer of a single-chip radio, and their solutions. The topics addressed in the course range from the system right down to the circuit level, including: system requirements and the demands they place on transceiver circuit specs, the design of RF front-ends with >;100dB dynamic range at GHz frequencies, direct conversion architectures, autocalibration methods, sub-systems robust to substrate/supply coupling and crosstalk, fast responding PLL synthesizers with low spurious content, and the latest `more digital than analog' developments. This course is aimed at circuit designers who are familiar with the basic terminology of RF and mixed-signal/analog circuits and wish to acquire further depth in RF IC design.