ECE 5220 - Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC) Technology and Design (3C)

Integrated circuit (IC) implementation of RF circuits for wireless communications applications. Transceiver architectures for cuurent wireless communications standards; active/passive device technologies for RFIC implementations; low noise amplifiers; mixers; frequency sources; power amplifiers; single-chip radios; and RFIC packaging and testing. Case studies of modern RFIC chip sets for current wireless communciations standards are examined. The course involves circuit design at the IC level; modern RF/microwave CAD software will be used in conjunction with the course. Design of a wireless transceiver functional block component RFIC chip.

The rapid expansion of untethered (wireless) communications services - paging, RF identification (RFID), analog and digital cellular telephony, Personal Communications Services (PCS), etc. - over the last ten years has led to an explosion in the development of integrated circuit approaches in the RF/microwave area. Highly integrated RF components, such as upconverters and downconverters, low-noise and power amplifiers, and frequency synthesizers, are now commonplace, replacing hybrid circuits employing discrete semiconductor devices. Current applications are concentrated in the UHF at frequency bands around 900 MHz and 1.8 GHz; future frequency allocations for communications systems are expected in the low microwave bands around 2.4 and 5.8 GHz. These RF integrated circuits (RFICs) are packaged together with VLSI digital signal processing and microprocessor control chips on printed circuit boards (PCBs) or in advanced multichip modules (MCMs). On the horizon are so-called mixed signal integrated circuits in which RF, low-frequency analog and digital functions are integrated on the same chip, setting the stage for single chip "VLSI radios." The Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering is an established leader in wireless communications research and education. Senior undergraduate and graduate students can currently gain exposure to radio engineering (based on discrete devices, ECPE 4605/4606), microwave engineering (ECPE 4104), microelectronics and packaging (ECPE 4214/4234/4235/4236), and VLSI design (ECPE 5545). A course in RFIC design complements these existing courses, and represents a much-needed bridge between the Department's capabilities in wireless communications systems and state-of-the-art integrate circuit technology. Students concentrating in wireless communications, microelectronics, or VLSI can all benefit from such a course. The growing regional communications and electronics industry would also benefit from a RF integrated circuit curriculum at Virginia Tech.