Lecture 1 PDF

IN5240
Fundamentals of RF Circuit Design

Part 1
Sumit Bagga* and Dag T. Wisland**

*Staff IC Design Engineer, Novelda AS
**CTO, Novelda AS
Institutt for Informatikk

Outline
• Wireless communication systems

• Performance metrics of a wireless receiver
• RF building blocks
IN5240: Design of CMOS RF-Integrated Circuits,

Dag T. Wisland and Sumit Bagga Institutt for Informatikk
Wireless Communications System
• A communication system comprises a transmitter,

a channel and a receiver
– Analog building blocks in the receiver front-end
operate at RF frequencies and interface the channel to
the receiver
– Digital circuitry is responsible for demodulation, and
decoding

RF Channel
RF Band
In-band blockers Out of band blocker
Wanted signal Frequency
• Standards share spectrum resources

– e.g., wideband transmissions (UWB) overlapping WLAN
• Blockers are sources of interference
– Adjacent channel or standard in the receiver band à in-band
– Out of band à blockers outside of standard

Channel or Band Selection at RF?
• Quality factor, ! ≝ $%& ⁄', where $%& is the carrier

frequency and B is the bandwidth
• GSM standard with RF carriers at 935-960 MHz
– If channel select à ' is 200 kHz,
• ! is 950 MHz⁄200 KHz = 4750
– If band select à ' is 25 MHz
• ! is 950 MHz⁄25 MHz = 380
• Narrowband filter characteristics
– Very high ! (' << $%& ) and tunability to select channels

Receiver Goals
RF Signal conditioning
• Filter in-and out-of band blockers
• Amplify the wanted signal
• Frequency translation
– Down-convert with low-IF, zero-IF, sub-sampling
receivers
• Direct-RF sampling

Receiver Blocks
RF signal conditioning is realized with active and

passive blocks
• Passives include switches, circulators, filters,
mixers, resonators
• Actives include low-noise amplifiers (LNA),
mixers, local oscillator (LO), variable gain
amplifier (VGA), channel select filter, analog-to-
digital converter (ADC), and a digital signal
processor (DSP)

Filter or LNA as 1st Receiver Block?
Interference rejection vs noise figure (NF)

• Option 1: Passive filter
– ↑ Interferer rejection, but with ↑ insertion loss à ↑ NF
• Option 2: Low-noise amplifier
– ↓ Noise figure, but receiver risks desensitization from
interferers

SAW Filter à Out of Band Blockers
• A non-tunable surface acoustic wave (SAW) filter

with very high ! (in the hundreds) is generally the
first (off-chip) block in the receiver chain
– Electrical signal à acoustic wave by interdigital
transducers (IDT) on a piezoelectric substrate (e.g., quartz)
à electrical signal
• Low form factor, low insertion loss, and high-
frequency operation (typically 50 MHz to 5 GHz)

[Liscidini, ISSCC, 2015]
Modern RF Receiver
• Heterodyne: signal to low intermediate frequency (low-IF)

• Homodyne : signal to dc (direct conversion or zero-IF)

Receiver Architecture Trade-Offs
Architecture J L
Direct Conversion No off-chip IF filter LO leakage
Single synthesizer LO pulling
DC offset
0/90º LO
Superheterodyne Low LO leakage Off-chip IF filter
Weak LO pulling Two synthesizers
No 0/90º LO

Performance Metrics of RF Receiver
• Gain
• Matching
• Noise
• Distortion
• Dynamic Range

Noise Factor (F) and Noise Figure (NF)
SNRout
SNRin Nout
Nin GNin
• Noise factor, ! & noise figure (is ! in dB) à

noise added by the receiver, and is:
$%&'( $'( ⁄%'( $'( %)*+ %)*+
– != =$ = =
$%&)*+ )*+ ⁄%)*+ -$'( %'( -%'(
• Power, . in dBm is 10 log (.⁄1 mW)

Noise, SNRmin and Sensitivity
[Power] Psens = SNRmin + Nﬂoor
SNRmin
[Power] Nﬂoor
[PSD] Nin
B
• Minimum input signal (!"#$" ) to generate an output
signal with a specified signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)
• Product of SNRmin and mean noise power or noise
floor (%&'(() )
– Minimum achievable noise at the input of the receiver

Receiver Sensitivity Equations
• "#$%# = '()*+% (-./ 0 1 2)

• Power spectral density (PSD), (+% is:
– 456 (-174 dBm/Hz at 290 oK)
• Mean noise power of ‘ideal’ receiver is:
– 456 8 and is typically -94 dBm for pulsed radar
• Mean noise power of ‘real’ receiver input, (9:;;< is:
– 456 8 1 =

[Direct RF conversion: From vision to reality, TI, 2005]
Low-IF to Direct-RF Receiver
• "# = 2&'( (Nyquist)

• Direct-RF sampling provides a higher level of integration
with fewer active chain components à lower power

Cascaded Noise Factor
Equivalent noise factor for IF-sampling and RF-sampling ADCs

• Cascaded noise factor is:
()$* +, ( +, ()01 +,
– " = "$%& + + .*( +
-$%& -$%& /-)$* -$%& /-)$* /-.*(
• " of ADC is
,888/9:: ; (I
– 10log + 174 dBm − FGH)01 − 10log
</=>? ;
Even with a higher conversion rate, lower FGH)01 and "F
requriements, an RF-sampling ADC vs IF-sampling ADC
requires additional FE gain (in LNA) approximately equal to
JKLM + JNKO + JPO" dB!

Fig. 2. UWB radar waveform example, Z L = 100 !, VTX = 0.6 V, f c = 7.25 GHz, BW = 1.5 GHz, and PRF = 14 MHz. (a) Frequency-shifted Gaussian
Swept Threshold Principle

in time domain, both polarities. (b) Corresponding frequency spectrum after PRN pattern coding, with ETSI UWB regulatory mask, assuming 6-dBi antenna
gain.
The input signal is compared with a threshold, and the

Fig. 3. ST sampling principle.
resulting
reflectors close 1-bit quantized
to the targets. The ST samplingvalue
introduces is summed
where at gain,
G is the antenna each range
λ is the bin
wavelength, k isto B
a tradeoff where the input range can be traded for sweep Boltzmann’s constant, T is the temperature in Kelvin, F is
incrementally build
times and/or processing gain thethemulti-bit
by adjusting sweep limits. theframe.
0
RX noise factor, P is the transmitted pulse power, and t
t p
The sweep time is given by the total number of pulses n pulses is the pulse duration. The transmitted pulse is approximated
and the PRF as a rectangular windowed pulse with length t p , such that the
IN5240: Design of CMOS RF-Integrated n pulses energy of the pulse E p equals
tsweep = Circuits,
Dag T. Wisland and Sumit Bagga PRF
. (3)
InstituttVfor
2 Informatikk
TX
The SNR for an ideal pulse-based radar RX from a target E p = Pt · t p = · tp . (5)
2Z L
Direct-RF Wideband Receiver
• Differential RF-FE comprises HPF, LNA and 12x time-

interleaved 1-bit quantization & sampling circuit
• DAC sets the quantization threshold
[Andersen, JSSC, 2017]

Sub-Sampling Receiver
FS ≥ 2B fIF
RF
Vin Vout FS (N)FS (N+1)FS
IF
DC fIF FS/2 Frequency
• For !" ≥ 2% à down-convert RF to low-IF signal

– '()**+ increases by 2' (' is the sub-sampling factor)
and phase noise increases by ' C (output of sampler)
• (2FGH +%)⁄(' + 1) ≤ !" ≤ (2FGH −%)⁄', where
' = 1,2,3, …
Receiver Overview
• One or more IF stages to relax the requirements of

the ‘image’ rejection filter
• Image reject mixers with I&Q LO signals to
eliminate band-pass filters (BPFs)
• Compromise à mixing with image filtering and
image reject mixing

Baseband to RF Wideband Transmitter
Z0
Modulator PG
• Pulse generator (PG) generates a baseband pulse

à up-converted “around” a carrier frequency with
a local oscillator
• Pulse position modulation is applied to each pulse
[Bagga, MTT, 2005]

[Joo, ISSCC, 2010]
Digital RRC Pulse-to-RF Upconversion TX
• DAC derived RRC pulses are filtered w/ a 400 MHz 5th-order Gm-C filter
• Passive mixer for upconversion and SE-DE class-A cascoded PA w/
resistive FB
• Classical upconversion TX consumes 36.4 mW with swing of 0.72 Vpp

Direct-RF Transmitter
Modulator PG PA
• Short time-duration and low peak power

requirements of the waveform makes direct-RF a
good candidate
• A time-domain, digital-intensive pulse generator is
preferred à “digital-RF” for dynamic power

[Mercier, RFIC 2008]
All-Digital TX w/ Capacitively
Coupled PAs
• 3-stage DCO output is modulated via dual digital PAs

comprising parallel drivers for dynamically switching signal up
to 0.7 Vpp maximum drive strength
• 4-levels of pulse shaping for 15—20 dB of sidelobe rejection
plus additional 12 dB of low frequency sidelobe rejection

[Andersen, JSSC, 2017]
Direct-RF Synthesis Transmitter
• 7.29/8.748 GHz dual-band BPSK pseudo-differential DPG plus PA (switching)

• Programmable PRI and 3 power levels with max. 6.4 dBm peak transmit
power

Impedance Matching
Z0=(L/C)-1/2
LNA Antenna
On/Off-Chip
ZLNA=RS ZANT=RS
• LNA interacts with the antenna via a transmission

line with a characteristic impedance, !"
• Maximum power absorption à antenna’s radiation
resistance, #$ is matched to the !%& of the LNA
[Niknejad, EECS 242]
Scattering Parameters
• Difficult to measure voltages/currents at RF à

S-parameters w/ ‘power’ flow
– "# = "%&,( − "*
• "%&,( = ,(- /801
• Signal flow and Mason’s rule to calculate input

reflection, transducer gain of a two-port network
IN5240: Design of CMOS RF-Integrated
Circuits, Dag T. Wisland and Sumit Bagga Institutt for Informatikk
Return Loss and Mismatch Loss
• Absolute impedance ! " + $ "

('()* ), -.,
• Reflection coefficient, Γ is
('-)* ), -.,
– 01 is the source impedance

234
• Voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) is 254
• Return loss (S11) is −20log(Γ)
• Mismatch loss is −10(1 − Γ " )

Smith Chart − * is +11 !
Constant reactance
Constant resistance
Minimum requirement |+11| < -10 dB (90% power transfer) and

preferably -20 dB (99% power transfer)
L’s and C’s

Amplifier Noise Factor
Rs v2eq
Noiseless
Vs
2-port
• Equivalent noise voltage, !"# = !% + '( )%

*
• For uncorrelated noise sources, !"# = !%* + |'( |* )%*
7
456
./,12
• Noise factor, , = 1 + =1+
.3 437

Minimum Noise Factor –
Noise Matching
• For the minimum noise factor, !"#$
(
– ! = !"#$ + *) |-. − -012 | 3
+
• Source impedance, -. ≠ -012 à ! ↑ with 2 factors

– Minimizing 6$ à ↓ noise match sensitivity

Passive Input Termination
• Low-complexity and cheap
• Neglecting the noise of the RL
transistor, the ! due to the input
termination resistor, "# is:
+
()* Rs
– ! >1+
(,+
-.01 ⁄23 2, R1
– !> 1 + -.0 ⁄2 = 1+2 =2
1 , 3
– ∵ "7 ≈ "#, i.e., 3 dB in 9!

Active Input Termination
• Impedance seen at source of
CG-stage is "!#
RL
!
• Assume "#
≈ %& , thus,
. 4
,- 123 6#
5
• ( >1+ =1+ =
,/. 1237/
8
1+ ≈2
9
8
– ∵ for short channel device, ≈2 Rs
9

Noise Figure Common-Source Stage
• Noise at the output
– "#$ = "&$ + "($ + (*+$ + *,$)./
$
• Noise factor
234 674 8694 ;3 =⁄> ?
– 0 =1+ + =1+ ;5
+; + + ; +4 ;
254 254 +:
4 5 : 5 : 9
• If ./ ↑ gate resistance, A+ ↓
– Two components à physical gate resistance (poly) and
induced channel resistance
– Multi-finger layout à ↓ {A+ and junction capacitance}

Intermodulation Distortion (IMD)
f2
G f1,f2+IMD
f1
• Distortion à harmonic(s) generation

• Blockers à intermodulation products (IMD) à ↓SNR
2 signals (!" , !# ) at input à !" , !# + IMD products
– Second order: !" − !# , !# − !" , 2!" , 2!#
– Third order: 2!" − !# , 2!# − !" , 3!" , 3!#

IIP/OIP, IMD Products and P1dB
∆(
• nth order intercept point, IP# = % + )*+
((1 *(234 )
– OIP3 = %/ +
6
– IIP3 = OIP3 − G
((1 *(234 )
– IIP3 = %9 + 6
• e.g., two 10 dBm tones à -20 dBm 3rd order IMD
+<* *6<
products à IP3 = 10 + = 25 dBm
=*+
• 1 dB compression point (P1dB) is where the
fundamental drops by 1 dB
IP3 for Cascaded Stages
• 3rd-order intercept point is:

" " " "
– #$%&
=( +( + #$%
) (* #$%* , #$%) ,
– IIP3 = OIP3/(3"343&)
• 2nd-order intercept point is:
" " " "
– = + +
#$%4 () (* #$%* (, #$%) #$%,
– IIP2 = OIP2/(3"343&)

Spurious Free Dynamic Range (SFDR)
• SFDR is difference in dB à power of the blocker

(!" ) to sensitivity (!#$%# ), when !" à IM3 = *+,--.
– !#$%# = 0*123% + *+,--.
– IM3 = 3!" − 2IIP3 = *+,--.
D EEFGH=IJKKL
• 09:1|<=>?@ABC = G
D EEFGH(HRST UVWXYZ[ \]\RC^_`("))
• SFDR = − 0*123%
G

Summary
• Receiver topologies and trade-offs

• Impedance matching à reflection coefficient, !""
• Interdependencies of noise figure, sensitivity
(minimum detectable signal), SNR and SFDR
• Metrics P1dB, IIP2, IIP3 (TOI) to characterize
linearity

Key References
1. A. M. Niknejad, EECS 142 and 242

2. A. Liscidini, “Fundamentals of Modern RF
Receivers,” ISSCC 2015
3. N. Andersen, “A 118-mW Pulse-Based Radar
SoC in 55-nm CMOS for Non-Contact Human
Vital Signs Detection,” JSSC, 2017

Homework L
1. For each block in a receiver chain (i.e., RF filter,
LNA, mixer, channel select filter), find values for G,
NF, and IIP3, such that the front-end realizes:
– G > 90 dB, NF ≤ 3 dB, IIP3 > -15 dBm referred to 50 Ω
– https://www.mathworks.com/help/rf/examples/finding-
cascaded-gain-noise-figure-and-ip3.html
2. A pre-amplifier with an input impedance of 100 Ω is
placed after the 50 Ω input matched LNA. What is
the noise figure of the pre-amplifier? Hint: calculate
input referred noise power.


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IN5240

Fundamentals of RF Circuit Design

Sumit Bagga* and Dag T. Wisland**

Institutt for Informatikk

• Wireless communication systems

IN5240: Design of CMOS RF-Integrated Circuits,

• A communication system comprises a transmitter,

IN5240: Design of CMOS RF-Integrated Circuits,

In-band blockers Out of band blocker

Wanted signal Frequency

• Standards share spectrum resources

IN5240: Design of CMOS RF-Integrated Circuits,

• Quality factor, ! ≝ $%& ⁄', where $%& is the carrier

IN5240: Design of CMOS RF-Integrated Circuits,

IN5240: Design of CMOS RF-Integrated Circuits,

RF signal conditioning is realized with active and

IN5240: Design of CMOS RF-Integrated Circuits,

Interference rejection vs noise figure (NF)

IN5240: Design of CMOS RF-Integrated Circuits,

• A non-tunable surface acoustic wave (SAW) filter

IN5240: Design of CMOS RF-Integrated Circuits,

• Heterodyne: signal to low intermediate frequency (low-IF)

IN5240: Design of CMOS RF-Integrated Circuits,

IN5240: Design of CMOS RF-Integrated Circuits,

IN5240: Design of CMOS RF-Integrated Circuits,

• Noise factor, ! & noise figure (is ! in dB) à

• Power, . in dBm is 10 log (.⁄1 mW)

IN5240: Design of CMOS RF-Integrated Circuits,

IN5240: Design of CMOS RF-Integrated Circuits,

• "#$%# = '()*+% (-./ 0 1 2)

IN5240: Design of CMOS RF-Integrated Circuits,

Low-IF to Direct-RF Receiver

• "# = 2&'( (Nyquist)

IN5240: Design of CMOS RF-Integrated Circuits,

Equivalent noise factor for IF-sampling and RF-sampling ADCs

IN5240: Design of CMOS RF-Integrated Circuits,

Swept Threshold Principle

The input signal is compared with a threshold, and the

• Differential RF-FE comprises HPF, LNA and 12x time-

IN5240: Design of CMOS RF-Integrated Circuits,

Vin Vout FS (N)FS (N+1)FS

• For !" ≥ 2% à down-convert RF to low-IF signal

• One or more IF stages to relax the requirements of

IN5240: Design of CMOS RF-Integrated Circuits,

• Pulse generator (PG) generates a baseband pulse

IN5240: Design of CMOS RF-Integrated Circuits,

Digital RRC Pulse-to-RF Upconversion TX

IN5240: Design of CMOS RF-Integrated Circuits,

• Short time-duration and low peak power

IN5240: Design of CMOS RF-Integrated Circuits,

• 3-stage DCO output is modulated via dual digital PAs

IN5240: Design of CMOS RF-Integrated Circuits,

Direct-RF Synthesis Transmitter

• 7.29/8.748 GHz dual-band BPSK pseudo-differential DPG plus PA (switching)

IN5240: Design of CMOS RF-Integrated Circuits,

• LNA interacts with the antenna via a transmission

• Difficult to measure voltages/currents at RF à

• Signal flow and Mason’s rule to calculate input

• Absolute impedance ! " + $ "

– 01 is the source impedance

IN5240: Design of CMOS RF-Integrated Circuits,

Minimum requirement |+11| < -10 dB (90% power transfer) and