Radio Implementation

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Radio Implementation
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Critical Research Issues in Radio Implementation

• Flexible RF Systems
• Ultra Wideband Design
• Software Validation
• Enhanced Critical Components

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Implementation of a UWB SDR

• Faculty J. H. Reed, R. M. Buehrer, P. M. Athanas
• Funding ONR
• Description We have developed high performance,
  extremely versatile SDR platform using
  commercially available off-the-shelf hardware,
  for use in a wide variety of Wideband and
  particularly Ultra wideband research and
  development.

Read more C. R. Anderson, A Software Defined
Ultra Wideband Transceiver Testbed for
Communications, Ranging, and Imaging, Ph. D.
Dissertation, Sept. 2006
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Secure Passive RFIDs

• Faculty Patrick Schaumont and Dong Ha
• Funding NSF, SRC
• Description We are developing a secure RFID
  based on Ultra-Wideband (UWB) communications.
  Existing secure RFIDs require cryptographic
  primitives implemented in digital hardware, which
  increases cost, power consumption, and latency.

• Approach We employ time-hopping pulse-position
  modulation (TH-PPM) and UWB, which makes
  eavesdropping extremely difficult to eliminate
  the need for encryption of data.

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RF Quadrature Signal Sources with Analog I/Q
Error Correction

• Faculty S. Raman
• Funding NSF, Jazz
• Description VCO with I/Q correction
• Cross-coupled LC quadrature VCO with integrated
  I/Q error correction capability
• Fabricated in Jazz 0.18 mm RF CMOSDie Area 1.1
  x 0.7 mm2 including pads
• Ultra-wide phase tuning range achieved with
  minimal impact on amplitude ? can tune through
  30 of I/Q imbalance before VCOs become unlocked

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UWB Transmitters for Wireless Sensor Nodes

• Faculty S. Raman
• Funding NSF
• Description UWB TX
• Fabricated in Jazz 0.18 mm RF CMOSDie Area 1.1
  x 0.7 mm2 including pads
• Transmitter generates DBPSK modulated 1ns pulses
  (500 MHz -10dB BW) from RF carrier frequency from
  4 or 8 GHz VCO
• Low-Power multiband design based on
  single-sideband mixing from single source VCO
  currently being fabricated in 0.13 mm RF CMOS

Differential UWB (1 ns) output pulses
62.5 MHz reference
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AN ANALOG/MIXED-SIGNAL FFT PROCESSOR FOR
ULTRA-WIDEBAND OFDM SYSTEMS
Typical Integrated Broad-band OFDM Direct
Conversion Receiver

• Faculty S. Raman
• Sponsor NSF
• Description Reduce the power consumption and
  increase the dynamic range of the ADC by
  utilizing the sub-channel format and mixed signal
  processing techniques.
• Equivalent 8-bit converter currently in
  fabrication in Jazz 0.13um RF CMOS ? predict x10
  reduction in DC power consumption, improved
  linearity performance

Proof-of-Concept test-chip in 0.13 mm RF CMOS
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Silicon-based microwave/mm-wave PAs

• Faculty S. Raman
• Sponsor MA-COM
• Description
• Fabricated in Atmel SiGe2RF Process
• Fully differential Power Amplifier at 30 GHz
• Fully Monolithic Design (on chip matching
  networks)
• Coplanar Waveguides used as distributed elements

Pout vs. Pin small-signal gain (S21) simulated
and measured results at 26.5 GHz.
Die Photograph of the fabricated PA. Die Area
1.75 mm x 1.15 mm
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High-Isolation DC-contact Lateral RF MEMS
Switches

• Faculty S. Raman
• Sponsor RFMD
• Description
• Switches designed and fabricated in a Commercial
  MEMS foundry (MEMSCAP) Metal MUMPS process
• Lateral electrostatic actuation provides low DC
  voltage operation measured actuation at 11-12V.
  Approaching viability for low-voltage SoC
  integration
• Isolation is improved with multiple heads in
  series, -63 dB isolation achieved on high-p Si
  with 4 heads _at_ 2 GHz

Different configurations of the head with width
and angle variations to understand Force and
contact resistance.