MICRO AND MILLIMETER WAVE CIRCUIT DESIGN IN SILICON WITH CONSIDERATIONS FOR NOISE REDUCTION AND ON-CHIP PASSIVE ELEMENTS

Abstract

Amid the exponentially growing demand of wireless multimedia applications, the need for exceptionally high performance communication devices has leapt to the forefront of electronic design. Advances in the speed of the silicon transistor and increased complexity of the integrated circuit metallization stack, along with sophisticated Electro-Magnetic (EM) simulation software has fortified the capability to meet new and seemingly unrelenting requirements on a platform common to most consumer electronics. A comprehensive design approach for implementing micro and millimeter wave wireless transceiver front-end circuits is proposed. The design methodology exploits the aforementioned advances to ensure successful implementation of radio frequency circuits operating anywhere from 2-100 GHz in both standard silicon CMOS and silicon germanium (SiGe) BiCMOS technologies. In this dissertation the most substantial work performed is on the design and characterization of a variety of low noise amplifiers (LNAs). In the LNA arena, a new figure-of-merit (FOM) equation is proposed. Other successful demonstrations of transceiver circuits are also covered such as a direct down converter featuring an active balun at 94 GHz, and radio frequency identification (RFID) tags with an active transmitter at 24 GHz and 60 GHz. The methodology is not limited to the above circuits. It can be applied to a myriad of other circuits where the operating frequency is high, noise must be curtailed and the dimensions of passive structures are comparable to the signal wavelength. Many of the techniques employed are intended to combat the limitations of the silicon substrate; even beyond the frequency limitations of the devices, and towards overcoming and in some cases exploiting the parasitic effects of interconnect wiring at increased frequencies. Simulation and Measurement results from the circuits are presented and an integrated simulation environment is proposed to simplify the design flow. Several successful hardware demonstrations confirm the validity of the proposed design methodology. Summaries are given at the end of each chapter and future research direction is highlighted at the end of the dissertation.