first-pass-silicon radio technology for b3g wireless …

First-Pass-Silicon Radio Technology for B3G Wireless

Terminals

Mohammed Ismail

Firstpass Technologies

[email protected]

Analog VLSI Lab.

Topics

•Wireless systems and cellular chipset evolution

•Multi-band radio architectures and IPs

•DC offset modeling and compensation in multi band Zero-IF receivers

•A multi-band WLAN/WiMAX Radio Architecture

•Will your first silicon spin be your last?

Abstract

As we move from third generation ( 3G ) to 4G wireless and as we strive to meet the demands for higher data rates and short distance wireless applications, a debate has ensued on whether cellular and WLAN/WMAN are seen as complementary or competing technologies. In either case, wireless services beyond 3G (B3G) are moving to all-IP, always-best connected, convergent wireless solutions requiring access to different wireless infrastructures from the same wireless device, be it a cell phone, a laptop or a PDA for a multitude of services including voice, data and multimedia applications. For future handheld wireless devices, this requires low power, low cost multi-standard multi-band chipsets, the radio part of which will be increasingly complex with stringent demands on power consumption and cost as the two main differentiators.

We will present radio design IPs at the system, architectural and block levels for emerging always-best-connected wireless applications and with focus on smart power, first-pass-silicon radio transceiver design in deep sub-micron CMOS. We will highlight both the challenges and the opportunities for innovation in this area.

Radios for 3G and 4G Wireless

2G - 3G - 4G

4G

All-IP migration convergenceBackward compatibleFuture proof

AlwaysBestConnected

SIP protocalVoIP, VoWLANUMTS/WLANCompeting or complementary?

WiMax

WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability Microwave Access)Broadband Wireless Access in Metropolitan Area

NEC, Motorola partner on Wi-Fi/cellular connectivityBy Patrick Mannion, EE TimesAug 5, 2003 (12:46 PM)URL: http://www.commsdesign.com/story/OEG20030805S0037MANHASSET, N.Y. — NEC America Inc. (Irving, TX) and Motorola Inc. (Arlington Heights, IL) have announced their intent to collaborate on an enterprise communications solution that converges a wireless LAN voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) network with cellular phone systems. Motorola's components include a dual system Wi-Fi/cellular phone and a mobility manager that controls the hand-off between a local (WLAN) and cellular networks and dispatch functions. The Wi-Fi/cellphone is still under construction, according to Nicholas Labun, vice president and general manager of Motorola's seamless mobility solutions group. It will combine 802.11a/b/g WLAN technology from TI with Motorola's GSM/CDMA cellular expertise, with unspecified hand-off functionality included.

According to Labun, the client device will be managed by the Motorola mobility manager that is integrated into NEC's enterprise equipment and will use the session initiation protocol (SIP). When it roams outside the WLAN network, the enterprise IP-PBX will initiate the transfer to the wide-area cellular network via a call directly to the cellular provider or via a land-line connection. The mobility manager will then make the switch from a VoIP call to a regular cellular network call. The companies expect user efficiencies to come from increased accessibility to the business network and greater mobility through seamless wireless access within or outside the enterprise network. The announcement comes six months after Motorola announced a similar partnership with Avaya Inc. to also enable seamless roaming between enterprise Wi-Fi networks via Avaya's IP-PBX equipment and cellular networks. That deal also included Proxim Corp. as a WLAN infrastructure provider. The new deal with NEC is similar in many respects in that it integrates Motorola's core seamless mobility components with NEC's WLAN infrastructure and NEAX family of enterprise communication platforms. Financial details of the agreement are not being disclosed. General availability for the solution is targeted for the second half of 2004.

“WANDA,” for Wireless Any-Network Digital Assistant

4G Wireless

WAN

WPAN

Cellular - km wide WLAN Pico cell:- 802.11 a/b/g- 100 m radius

WPAN Pico cell:- Bluetooth & 802.15.3- 10 m radius

WLAN

Micro cell

- Short Distance- Unregulated bands- Proliferating

• WLAN experiencing tremendous growth in the public, home, retail and enterprise market segments

– P-WLAN Hotspot users to surpass 75m by 2008 (Gartner) – WLAN to reach 50m homes by 2006 (BCWS) and 80% of US businesses by 2008

(InfoTech)– Driven by major chip vendors, OEMs, consumers and service providers

• Broadband access becoming the norm– Surpass 290m subscribers globally by 2008 (ABI)

• VoIP to replace circuit-switched telphony– Service providers (globally) accelerating their deployments of high quality SIP-based

VoIP service and enterprise segment on the verge of mass adoption– ”The most significant paradigm shift in the entire history of modern communications” -

Michael Powell, chairman of the US FCC

4G Wireless

Wireless Standards Snapshot I

Wireless Standards

Mobile Frequency

Range (MHz)

Multiple Access Method

Duplex Method

Number of Channels

Channel Spacing

Modulation Scheme

User Data Rate Chip Rate

AMPS 824~849 (Tx) 869~894 (Rx) FDMA FDD 416 30 kHz FM N/A N/A

GSM-900 890~915 (Tx) 935~960 (Rx) TDMA FDD 124 (8 users

per channel) 200 kHz GMSK 9.6 kbps 270.833 kbps

E-GSM 880~915 (Tx) 925~960 (Rx) TDMA FDD 174 200 kHz GMSK 9.6 kbps 270.833 kbps

DCS-1800 1710~1785 (Tx) 1805~1850 (Rx) TDMA FDD 374 200 kHz GMSK 9.6 kbps 270.833 kbps

PCS-1900 1850~1910 (Tx) 1930~1990 (Rx) TDMA FDD 299 200 kHz GMSK 9.6 kbps 270.833 kbps

IS-95A 824~849 (Tx) 869~894 (Rx) CDMA FDD 20 (768 users

per channel) 1.25 MHz QPSK/OQPSK 14.4 kbps 1.2288 Mbps

GPRS

824~849 (Tx) 869~894 (Rx); 890~915 (Tx) 935~960 (Rx); 880~915 (Tx) 925~960 (Rx)

TDMA FDD 124 200 kHz GMSK 115 kbps 270.833 kbps

EDGE

876~915 (Tx) 921~960 (Rx);

1710~1785 (Tx) 1805~1850 (Rx); 1850~1910 (Tx) 1930~1990 (Rx)

TDMA FDD 124 200 kHz 8-PSK 384 kbps 270.833 kbps

WCDMA 1920~1980 (Tx) 2110~2170 (Rx)

DS-CDMA FDD 12 5 MHz QPSK 2M bps 3.84 Mbps

CDMA2000 /1xEV-DO

824~849 (Tx) 869~894 (Rx) CDMA FDD 20 1.25 MHz QPSK / 8PSK /

16QAM 2.458 Mbps 1.2288M bps

Wireless Standards Snapshot II

6,9,12,1824,36,48,54

BPSK/QPSK16/64 QAM

OFDM5.250GHz5.775GHz

5GHz OFDM

5.5Mbps11Mbps

CCKDSSS2.4GHz2.4GHz DSSS High Data Rate

1Mbps 2Mbps

2GFSK 4GFSKFHSS2.4GHz2.4GHz FHSS

1Mbps 2Mbps

DBPSK DQPSKDSSS2.4GHz2.4GHz DSSSIEEE

802.11 WLAN

Standards

Standards

1Mbps 3Mbps

2GFSK8-DPSK

FHSS

Data RateModulationMultiple Access

Frequency Range

Short-Range Wireless Standards

2.4GHz

IEEE 802.11n MIMO OFDM Above

100Mbps2.4GHz5GHz

QAM

higher performance/price ratios

Wireless Chipset Technology Drivers

Hand-set Evolution

Technology choices

• Compatible with baseband circuits

• Low cost due to high volumes

• More aggressive process scaling

• Rapidly improving fT

CMOS Technology

Smaller transistors and faster CMOS

Ft is no problem in CMOS

FT ≈ 1 / LG

0

25

50

75

100

125

150

175

200

0.01 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70

F T(G

Hz)

Effective Gate Length (um)

FT = gm / 2 π CIN

FT ≈ 1 / LG2

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

Maxim

um Supply Voltage (V)

V DD(max) ∝

T OX∝ L G

FT ≈ 1 / L

GSiO2

Ta2O5

CMOS Vs Bipolar

CMOS Bipolar

• Symmetric behaviour• Better Linearity (higher signal swing)• Higher ft at submicron feature size• Better scaling properties• Low static power (no DC gate current)

• Higher gm for same bias• High ft• Low thermal and 1/f noise, but produces input current noise• Lower DC offset• No body effect• Lower overdrive (VCEsat)

• Top metal layers – larger pitches – thicker lines : for power handling and reduce losses

• Interconnect dielectric thickness is twice the metal thickness

• Hence top metal layers are far from the silicon substrate thus minimizing substrate losses

CMOS Reverse Interconnect Scaling

CMOS Reverse Interconnect Scaling

• Distance between top metal layer and silicon substrate currently about 1.5um per metal layer

• 10 metal layer technology by the end of the decade

* ”Exploiting CMOS reverse interconnect scaling in multigigahertz amplifier and oscillator design”, B.Kleveland, C.H.Diaz etal., JSSC, Oct 2001

Optimized CMOS RF

Performance Noise Power Area

Architecture-Reduced complexity

Block-High speeddesign

Transistor-Leverage CMOSperformanceft > 75GHz

Process & temperature

Architecture-Set designgoals based onapplication

Block-Noise shaping(sigma-delta,chopping, etc)

Transistor-Noise optimizedtransistors

Architecture-Reduced complexity-Power managementBlock-Innovative biasing-Rail-to-rail designs-Folded cascode-AB CMOS biasing for OTAs and amplifiers

-use fully differential unity gain buffers

-DC current re-useTransistor- operate transistors in linear region

Architecture-Hardware share

-Maximizedigital

Block-Multi-Layerpassives

-Hand optimizedlayout

Transistor-Optimizedlayout

Architecture-Maximizedigital

Block-Selfregulatingbiasing

Transistor-Interdigitizedlayout

-statistical modeling(Monte Carlo)

Wireless System Example

Radio/Baseband/MAC

The Bluetooth SIG

Bluetooth was introduced in 1998 by Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Nokia and Toshiba.Currently, more than 2000 adoptersBluetooth enabled devices have started to appear on the market (2001)Visit www.bluetooth.com

• Radio interface, operating in the2.45 GHz "free" ISM band.

• Transmitting power less than 1 mW, typical operating range up to10 meters (30 ft)

• Up to 730 kbit/s user data rates, both circuit and packet switched connection

• Very cost effective design! Integration into computer and phone chipsets is foreseen

• The initial creator group consists of these companies

Bluetooth TechnologyBluetooth Technology

Bluetooth in 3G

The technology

• Short range wireless technology • Range up to 100 meters• Operate at the unlicensed 2.4 ISM band • Form small ad hoc networks called piconets

– One master and 7 active slaves• 1 Mb/s rate• Robust and reliable transmission using frequency hop spectrum• Support link level security including authentication and encryption• Plug-and-play service discovery• Supports legacy applications• Enable cheap single chip implementation at low power

Bluetooth usage scenarios

• Cable replacement

SDPBNE

Protocol architecture

RF

Baseband

Link Manager

• Bluetooth core consists of Link Manager, Baseband and RF

• L2CAP, SDP, RFCOMM, BNE constitute the host stack

RFCOMMIP

Aud

io

L2CAP

Cont

rol

Applications

Bluetooth radio

• frequency hopping spread spectrum– 2.402 GHz + k MHz, k=0, …, 78– 1,600 hops per second

• GFSK modulation– 1 Mb/s symbol rate

• transmit power– 0 dbm (up to 20dbm with power control)

. . .

1Mhz

1 2 3 79

83.5 Mhz

SDPBNE

RF

Baseband

Link Manager

RFCOMMIP

Aud

io

L2CAP

Cont

rol

Applications

Baseband

SDPBNE

RF

Baseband

Link Manager

RFCOMMIP

Aud

io

L2CAP

Cont

rol

Applications

• Form Piconets and Scatternets• Use paging and inquiry procedures to synchronize

transmission hop frequency and clock of the devices

• Implement channel access control based on Time Division Duplex (TDD)

• Support data and voice links• Provide flow and error control• Voice coding including the error

resistant voice coding scheme CVSD (Continuous Variable Slope Delta)

Link Manager

SDPBNE

RF

Baseband

Link Manager

RFCOMMIP

Aud

io

L2CAP

Cont

rol

Applications

Establish links between devices Piconet managementSecurity support including authentication, encryption and key managementLink commands configuration and information

L2CAP

SDPBNE

RF

Baseband

Link Manager

RFCOMMIP

Aud

io

L2CAP

Cont

rol

Applications

Link Layer and Connection Adaptation Protocol (L2CAP)Adapt upper layers protocols over the BasebandSet up both connectionless and connection-oriented logical channelsProvide quality of service as well as packet segmentation and reassembly

Other protocols

SDPBNE

RF

Baseband

Link Manager

RFCOMMIP

Aud

io

L2CAP

Cont

rol

Applications

RFCOMM Emulate serial lines used by many legacy applications (e.g. dial-up networking, LAN access)Provide reliable and in sequence delivery of byte streamSupport multiple concurrent connections to one or more BT devices

SDP (Service Discovery Protocol)searches for services by service class or attributessupports service browsing

Bluetooth Network Encapsulation (BNE)Encapsulate Ethernet over Bluetooth for the transport of IP

ProfilesMain tool for interoperability between BT devices for a specificusage model (application and devices)Define the set of procedures (from different protocols) and the messages requiredSpecify the order in which the procedures are combined Define the roles of involved devices Four general profiles have been specified

Generic Access profile Serial Port ProfileService Discovery Application ProfileGeneric Object Exchange Profile

A number of application profiles has been specified e.g. LAN Access, Dial-up Networking, File Transfer, Headset.

The profile tree

Telephony Profiles

File Transfer

Synchronization

Object Push

Generic Bluetooth Access Profiles

TransportProfiles

Dial-up networking

Headset

Fax

Serial Port

Cordless Telephony

Intercom

LAN Access

Networking Profiles

Service discovery application

Generic Object Exchange

Generic access

Object ExchangeProfiles

Bluetooth HW

Bluetooth radioBluetooth radio

Ericsson Bipolar radio• One fully tested unit-easy to use• Radio IC, filters and baluns are matched together• Ideal for embedded applications and applications requiring a flexible

form factor

Smallest size• RF IC flipchip mounted-No package • Filter,impedance matched baluns and switch integrated into

LTCC substrate

Lowest height• Self shielding design!

Output power/receiver sensitivity• Class 2 ("10m"), -70dBm at BER 0.1%

Modules

Ericsson Bluetooth™ Module• Radio, Baseband and Flash memory• Firmware: Supports all Bluetooth protocol layers up

to HCI• UART and USB interfaces for high speed data

transfer rates • PCM and USB interfaces for voice• Low energy consumption• Point to multi-point operation• Built-in shield• FCC and ETSI type approved

Bluetooth radio and baseband architectures

Radio Architectures

Discrete IR and IF filters not amenable for IntegrationChannel selection done at IFLow dynamic range baseband circuitsMulti-Standard programmability in IF stage is difficult to achieve

Super Heterodyne Receivers

Eliminates the need for discrete IR and IF filtersSignal + Blockers are translated to basebandChannel selection done at basebandHigh dynamic range baseband circuits requiredMulti-standard programmability in baseband circuits

Integrated Receivers

Digital servo loop implementation using DSP (for offset cancellation)Baseband Filter programmability for multi-standard supportDigitally programmable variable gain amplifiers

Direct Conversion Receiver

Multi-standardADC

DACMulti-band

Frequency Synth.

WCDMA

GSM

DECT

Baseband

Signal

Processor

90 o

TransmitterSignal

Duplexer

AntennaDCS1800

Band Filter

DECTBand Filter

WCDMABand Filter

DCS1800LNA

DECTLNA

WCDMALNA

I Mixer

Q Mixer

Channel/Anti-aliasing Filter

Channel/Anti-aliasing Filter

VGA

VGA

DC OffsetCancellation

DC OffsetCancellation

Multi-standardADC

DAC

Zero-IF receiver architectureMultiple narrow-band LNAs are used to get the high gain and low noise figure with low power.I/Q Mixers, low-pass analog filters, analog-to-digital converters are shared for all the standardsAdvanced Offset cancellation algorithm is needed to solve the DC offset problem

WCDMA/GSM/DECTMulti-standard Receiver

90 o

I

Q

1710~1785MHz

1880~1897MHz

1900~1920MHz

DECT

TDD andBand Switch 90 o

FromTransmitter

I

Q

1880~1897MHz

DCS1800

DECT

WCDMA

TDD andBand Switch

FrequencySynthesizer

M ulti-band

Standard-switching Signal

Single-pole-four-throw switch controlled by Standard-switching Signal. (MURATA Filter and Switch)Only one LNA of the three works to save power controlled by the Standard-switching signalTwo I/Q mixers are shared by all.

WCDMA/GSM/DECTMulti-standard Receiver

Bluetooth, HomeRF, IEEE 802.11b(FHSS)Image Rejection by Hartley MethodQuadrature Detector for Demodulator

FSK low-IF Receiver

A Radio Receiver Architecture:3G

A Radio Receiver Architecture: WLAN

A Radio Receiver Architecture: Low-IF/Zero-IF

Signal Power

ω

First downconversion to High-IF => no IR problemsSub-sampled at rate fs, where fIF = (n + ¼fs). Signal subsamples and centres at fs/4. I/Q separation and mixing done easily in discrete domain. Sampling jitter noise is multiplied due to sub-sampling.IF filters must be high-Q if used for narrow-channel.

ωRFωHigh-IFωfs/4 ωfs ω2fs ω3fs

IF Filter

Subsampling Receiver

A Radio Receiver Architecture: Subsampling

2.4 2.42 2.46 2.482.442.437 2.4 2.42 2.46 2.482.442.437

AFH

Frequency (G Hz) Frequency (G Hz)

Employed in the next generation of BluetoothFree of Interferers in the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi ChannelsConcurrent Reception without degrading QoS

Adaptive Frequency Hopping

Concurrent Receiver Architecture with AFH

0/90

2

PPFADC

AFH Control

WLAN PLL

Bluetooth PLL fref

LO1=1600 MHz

LO2= 2400 MHz

800 MHz

Wi- Fi Digital Baseband

Bluetooth Digital

Baseband

DSP

0/90

T/R

Features of the Concurrent Architecture

LNA shared between the signal paths

Two separate PLLs to generate LO signals for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth receiversTwo VCO outputs separated at least 800 MHz to avoid interaction between LOs

Signal separation by the channel select filter

GSM, WCDMA, Wi-Fi Standards Review

GSM 900

Tx band: 890M-915MHz

Rx band: 935-960MHz

Duplex: FDD

Multiple Access: TDMA

Modulation: GMSK BT=0.3

Chip rate: 270.833 kbps

Channel Spacing: 200 kHz

CNR: 9dB

Sensitivity: -102 dBm

Intermodulation Test: -99dBm signal, -49dBm at 800k 1.6MHz

Adjacent Channel Test:

-82dBm signal, -73dBm 1st adj channel, -41dBm 2nd adj channel

Spurious Response Test: -99dBm signal, -31dBm @>6MHz

In-band & out-of-band blocker test:

GSM 900 - continued

WCDMA

Tx band: 1920M-1980MHz

Rx band: 2110-2170MHz

Duplex: FDD

Multiple Access: CDMA

Modulation: QPSK, RRC filter (rolloff=0.22)

Chip rate: 3.84M bps

Channel Spacing: 5M Hz

CNR: 7dB


Intermodulation Test: -114dBm signal, -46dBm at 10, 20MHz


-103dBm signal, -52dBm 1st adj channel



WCDMA - continued

WLAN 802.11b

Tx & Rx band: 2.4-2.4835 GHz

Duplex: TDD

Multiple Access: CSMA/CA

Modulation: DBPSK, DQPSK, CCK

Chip rate: 11M bps

Channel Spacing: 25M Hz, 5MHz raster

CNR: 14dB (for 11M bps rate)


Intermodulation Test: -73dBm signal, -35dBm at 25, 50MHz


-61dBm signal, -35dBm 1st adj channel



WLAN 802.11b - continued

Tri-Standard Receiver Architecture and Specifications

• Receiver Architectures

• Frequency Synthesizer Architectures

• Receiver Tests primary parameters for whole receiver

• Excel Sheet primary parameters for each blocks

Tri-Standard Transceiver Architecture

Antenna

System SelectSwitch

Duplex Filter

T/R Switch

802.11 b

Balun

LNA90o

Balun

LNA90o

DC notch VGASigma Delta

ADC

DSP

WCDMA RX

WCDMA

GSM RX

WCDMA TX

Duplex FilterGSM 900

GSM TX

PPF/LPF

or

RF Filter

Sigma DeltaADC

I

Q

BB filter

BB filter

DAC_I 3

DAC_Q 3+

PGC

PA

RF FilterLO2

0o

90o

I

Q

BB filter

BB filter

DAC_I 2

DAC_Q 2+

PGC IF FilterLO1

0o

90oPA

LO2

PGC RF Filter

LO2

LO2

off-chip component

not shared PLL

shared PLL

modulator

Data_I

Data_Q

DAC_I 1DAC_I 2

DAC_I 3

DAC_Q 1DAC_Q 2

DAC_Q 3

modeselect

I

Q

BB filter

BB filter

DAC_I1

DAC_Q1+

PGC

PA0o

90o40 MHz

PFDFilterVCO

LO2

LO3

Tri-Standard TX/RX Architecture

/4PFD CP VCOLPF

PFD CP VCO

M/(M+1)

LPF

fout1= 380 MHz

2nd orderSigma Delta Modulator

/5

40M Hz

GSM8MHz

WCDMAWLAN10MHz

To WCDMA Tx LO1-

- fout2

M1

M1=38

GSM/WCDMA/WI-FiMode Select

(N+1)/N

Prescalar(N=16)

S

Swallow Counter(5 bit)

P

Program Counter(5 bit)

k b(t)

/2

S1

Swallow Counter(S1=3)

(N1+1)/N1

Prescalar(N1=7)

P1

Program Counter(P1=5)

LO1

LO2

WCDMA/WLAN

GSM

LO3

fref N P S k M=NP+SGSM Tx 8MHz 16 29 1~13 1/10 ~ 9/10 465 ~ 477GSM Rx 8MHz 16 29 3~16 1/20 ~ 19/20 467 ~ 480WCDMA 10MHz 16 26 6~18 0 422 ~ 434

Wi-Fi 10MHz 16 30 2~12 0.4 482 ~ 492

/2

/2

Tri-standard frequency synthesizer

Receiver Tests

• Sensitivity Test => NF

• Intermodulation Test => IIP3, selectivity, PN

• Spurious Response Test => IIP2, selectivity, PN

•Adjacent Channel Test => selectivity, PN

• Inband & out-of-band Blocker Test => selectivity,

ADC DR

Receiver Specs:

NF IIP3 IIP2 Phase Noise Selectivity

GSM-900 9.8 dB IIP3 (800k, 1600kHz)=-15.5dBm

IIP2 (Δf=600k~1.6MHz)=28dBm IIP2 (Δf=1.6M~3M)=48dBm,

IIP2 (Δf=>3M)=68dBm, IIP2 (out-of-band)=114dBm

PN (Δf=100kHz) = -84dBc/Hz, PN (Δf=300kHz) = -116dBc/Hz, PN (Δf=500kHz) = -138dBc/Hz, PN (Δf=1.5MHz) = -148dBc/Hz, PN (Δf=2.9MHz) = -158dBc/Hz, PN (out-of-band) = -181dBc/Hz

21dB @ Δf=200kHz, 53dB @ Δf=400kHz, 71dB @ Δf=600kHz, 81dB @ Δf=1.6MHz, 91dB @ Δf=3MHz,

114dB @ out-of-banc

WCDMA 9 dB IIP3 (10M, 20M)=-17dBm

IIP2 (Δf=10MHz) = -10dBm, IIP2 (Δf=15MHz) = 14dBm,

IIP2 (2050MHz~2095MHz) = 14dBm, IIP2 (2185MHz~2230MHz) = 14dBm, IIP2 (2025MHz~2050MHz) = 42dBm, IIP2 (2230MHz~2255MHz) = 42dBm,

IIP2 (< 2025MHz, > 2255MHz)=72dBm

PN (Δf=3MHz) = -109dBc/Hz, PN (Δf=8MHz) = -129dBc/Hz,

PN (Δf=13MHz) = -138dBc/Hz, PN (2095MHz) = -138dBc/Hz, PN (2185MHz) = -138dBc/Hz, PN (2050MHz) = -152dBc/Hz, PN (2230MHz) = -152dBc/Hz, PN (2025MHz) = -167dBc/Hz, PN (2255MHz) = -167dBc/Hz

33dB @ Δf=5MHz, 58dB @ Δf=10MHz

Wi-Fi 10.4dB IIP3 (25M, 50MHz) = -5dBm IIP2 (Δf=25MHz) = 23dBm, IIP2 (Δf=50MHz) = 53dBm, IIP2 (out-of-band) = 73dBm

PN (Δf=14MHz) = -145dBc/Hz, PN (Δf=39MHz) = -160dBC/Hz, PN (out-of-band) = -170dBc/Hz

60dB @ Δf=25MHz, 73dB @ Δf=50MHz, 83dB @ out-of-band

Block Level Specs:A ssum e Loss for O ff-C hip C om ponents: A ntenna: 1 .5dB , D uplexer: 1 .5dB , B alun: 1 .5dB

LNA M ixer DC notch LPF/PPF VG A ADC Com bined RequiredG ain (dB) 10 5 0 0 0~40 0

Δ f = 25M Hz 30 15 45* > 60Selectivity (dB)Δ f = 50M Hz 55 25 80 > 73

NF (dB) 3 15 15 15 20 20 8.7 <10.4

IIP3 (dBm ) (25M , 50M Hz) -5 12 30 30 20 20 -4.5 >-5

Δ f = 25M Hz 57.5 >23

W I-Fi

IIP2 (dBm )Δ f = 50M Hz

60 70 90 90 90 9057.7 >53

G ain (dB) 10 5 0 0 14~40 0

Δ f = 5M Hz 25* 25* > 33Selectivity (dB)Δ f = 10M Hz 45 10 55* > 58

NF (dB) 3 15 15 15 20 20 8.7 <9

IIP3 (dBm ) (10M , 20M Hz) -5 12 30 30 20 20 -4.5 >-17

Δ f = 10M Hz 57.5 >-10

W CDM A


60 70 90 90 90 9057.7 >14

G ain (dB) 10 10 0 0 0~40 0Δ f = 200kHz 30 15 45 > 21Δ f = 400kHz 45 25 70 > 53Δ f = 600kHz 60 25 85 > 71Δ f = 1.6M Hz 90 40 130 > 81

Selectivity (dB)

Δ f = 3M Hz 110 50 160 > 91NF (dB) 3 15 25 25 30 30 9.2 < 9.8

IIP3 (dBm ) (800k, 1.6M Hz) -5 10 30 15 20 20 -11.8 > -15.5Δ f = 600kHz 68 > 28Δ f = 1.6M Hz 68 > 48

G SM


80 80 90 90 90 9068.7 > 68

* Extra attenuations are needed in the d ig ita l filter to m eet the selectiv ity requirem ent.

Sys switch RF Filter BALUN LNA Mixer DC notch PPF VGA ADC200kHz blocker -90.0 -91.5 -93.0 -94.5 -74.5 -64.5 -64.5 -82.1 -49.2400kHz blocker -58.0 -59.5 -61.0 -62.5 -42.5 -32.5 -32.5 -72.3 -48.2600kHz blocker -43.0 -44.5 -46.0 -47.5 -27.5 -17.5 -17.5 -71.9 -53.71.6MHz blocker -33.0 -34.5 -36.0 -37.5 -17.5 -7.5 -7.5 -100.4 -97.63MHz blocker -23.0 -24.5 -26.0 -27.5 -7.5 2.5 2.5 -126.5 -134.1out-of-band blocker 0.0 -1.5 -26.5 -28.0 -8.0 2.0 2.0 -145.9 -165.3min signal -102 -103.5 -105 -106.5 -86.5 -76.5 -76.5 -76.5 -36.5max signal -15 -16.5 -18 -19.5 -9.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5input noise floor -121.0 -121.0 -121.0 -121.0 -98.0 -87.4 -86.8 -86.3 -46.3

GSM Signal Levels @ input of the block

-200.0

-180.0

-160.0

-140.0

-120.0

-100.0

-80.0

-60.0

-40.0

-20.0

0.0

Sysswitch

RF Filter BALUN LNA Mixer DC notch PPF VGA ADC

Blocks

Leve

ls (d

Bm

)

200kHz blocker

400kHz blocker

600kHz blocker

1.6MHz blocker

3MHz blocker

out-of-bandblocker

min signal

max signal

input noise floor

RX Signal Levels: GSM

S ys sw itch R F F ilte r B A L U N L N A M ixe r D C n o tch L P F V G A A D C m in s igna l -117 -118 .5 -120 -121 .5 -101 .5 -96 .5 -96 .5 -96 .50 -56 .50 m ax s igna l -25 -26 .5 -28 -29 .5 -19 .5 -14 .5 -14 .5 -14 .50 -0 .50 5M H z o ffse t b lock e r -63 -64 .5 -66 -67 .5 -47 .5 -42 .5 -42 .5 -66 .58 -24 .62 10M H z o ffse t b lock er -56 -57 .5 -59 -60 .5 -40 .5 -35 .5 -35 .5 -83 .66 -53 .75 15M H z o ffse t b lock er -44 -45 .5 -47 -48 .5 -28 .5 -23 .5 -23 .5 -85 .75 -62 .88 2185 M H z b locke r -44 -45 .5 -47 -48 .5 -28 .5 -23 .5 -23 .5 -133 .9 2 -135 .1 3 2230 M H z b locke r -30 -31 .5 -43 -44 .5 -24 .5 -19 .5 -19 .5 -142 .0 2 -141 .1 8 2255 M H z b locke r -15 -16 .5 -33 .5 -35 -15 -10 -10 -10 .00 -102 .0 2 inp u t n o ise flo o r -107 .0 1 -107 .0 1 -107 .0 1 -107 .0 1 -84 .01 -78 .39 -78 .21 -78 .04 -37 .87 (b ) fo r W C D M A M o de

RX Signal Levels: WCDMA

Sys switch RF Filter BALUN LNA Mixer DC notch LPF VGA ADC min signal -76 -77.5 -79 -80.5 -60.5 -55.5 -55.5 -55.5 -15.5 max signal -10 -11.5 -13 -14.5 -4.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 25MHz offset blocker -35 -36.5 -38 -39.5 -19.5 -14.5 -14.5 -46.34 -46.34 50MHz offset blocker -20 -21.5 -23 -24.5 -4.5 0.5 0.5 -55.42 -55.42 out of band blocker -10 -11.5 -13 -14.5 5.5 10.5 10.5 -63.85 -63.85 input noise floor -100.99 -100.99 -100.99 -100.99 -77.99 -72.37 -72.19 -72.02 -31.85 (c) for WiFi Mode

RX Signal Levels: Wi-Fi

Channel noise levelat ADC

Channel signal levelat ADC

Max Interferer at ADC

ADC noise

10~20dB

ADC full Scaleheadroom6~10dB

ADC DR

Channel signal levelat antenna

Channel gain

ADC DR Requirement:

Standards Channel Bandwidth

DR requirements in the Triple-standard receiver

IIP3 requirement

GSM 200 kHz 70 dB WCDMA 3.84 MHz 60 dB WLAN 22 MHz 52 dB

20 dBm

CMOS Radio Challenges : Circuits

Good RF characterization and modeling is needed scalable models, passives, varactors

Process technology with better substrate isolation

Good modeling of substrate coupling effects, fully incorporated in the design process

Better design kits for RF design

CMOS Radio Challenges : System I

Adopt system partitioning and mixed-signal strategy that lend themselves naturally to deep-submicron CMOS

Maximize digital content

Requires high speed ADCs/DACs with good DR

Incorporate antenna and front-end passives (RF filters, Balun, switches) very early in the design process

Adopt pragmatic SOC and SOP (System On Package) strategies

CMOS Radio Challenges : System II

Good package models, fully incorporated in the design porcess

Mapping strategy for system to block specifications that is amenable to CMOS design capability

Complete understanding of the wireless system standards to optimize the system and avoid unnecessary over design

Test verification, qualification and certification

Architecture :

-System architectures geared towards full integration -Orders of magnitude power saving with the right architecture for the application

Strategy:

- Power management- power-efficient radio frequency planning - Avoid driving 50-Ohm loads

- No power hungry driving buffers, and matching network- Optimum system partitioning

-Maximize digital content -Optimize interface to DSP, single chip solutions

- Power efficient transmitters - Bring the PA on chip ,saves power of PA buffers - Adopt a system design exploiting a nonlinear PA

- Chip-package and package-board co-design

Low Power RF CMOS Radio Design

Block and Circuit :

Digital solutions to analog problemsFew folds of power savings with the right design

Strategy:

Optimize and avoid over-design Exploit merged LNA/Mixer design and current mode Mixer/Baseband interface Bias current reuse Adaptive class AB biasing Exploit MOS symmetry and operation in triode region Digitally programmable RX gain control,TX power control implemented in RFSmart power Data converters ,power scales with speed and/or resolutionDigital self-calibration to relax analog/RF performance requirements

Low Power RF CMOS Radio Design

RF CMOS Circuit Design

LNA

•• First stage in the receiver chain

• sensitivity of the system

• determines the overall NF of the system

• Input matching

•Provide enough gain to overcome the noise of subsequent stages (Sensitivity)

• Add as little noise as possible

• Accomodate a large dynamic range without distortion

LNA

LsLs

LgLg

LdLd

CgsCgs

Typical single ended CMOS LNA

LNA Design

Common Source

• Amplifying device must be large and biased at high current to reduce noise

• Large input device => large input capacitance thereby attenuating the input signal thus magnifyinging ’noise’.

• Hence NF is minimized by proper choice of transistor size and bias current at the operating frequency of interest.

• Min. NF is achieved varies with bias current and device size

NFmin ≅ 1+2.3(ω/ωT)

optimum device width Wopt ≅ 1/(3ωLsCoxRs)

LNA Design

•• Zin = (gm.Cgs /Ls) + s(Lg+Ls) + 1/(s.Cgs)

Input matched with proper choice of gm,Cgs, Ls and Lg

Power constraints and minimum noise figure determine the transistor size and hence gm and Cgs.

Choose Ls to achieve 50 Ohm match

Design Lg to tune out the additional capacitance at the operating frequency

• Gain depends on the parasitics of Q1 and load.

• Cascode device improves reverse isolation.

•Additional stage may be needed to drive a 50 Ohm load (heterodyne architectures).

LNA

Common Gate

• Input matching is simpler

Zin = 1/ (gm+sCgs)

• Higher linearity.

• Better reverse isolation.

• However, higher NF due to limitations on the choice of gm.

VVinin

VVbiasbias

Mixer

•• Frequency translation by multiplying two signals

• cos(ωct). cos(ωst) = cos(ωc+ ωs)t + cos(ωc- ωs)tupconversion downconversion

• Is NOT Linear Time Invariant (LTI)

• LTI systems cannot produce spectral components that are not in the input

• To ’MIX’, system has to be Non-Linear or Time Variant

• Important properties

• Conversion Gain

• Noise Figure – SSB vs DSB

• Linearity

• Port Isolation

Mixer

•• ’Nonlinearity’ based Mixers provide frequency translation through indirect multiplication.

• Assuming the nonlinearity is characterized by,

Vout = Σ An (Vin)n

If Vin = Vc cos(ωct) + Vs cos(ωst)

Second order nonlinearity would result in a cross modulation component,

Vout(cross) = A2 Vc Vs [cos(ωc- ωs)t + cos(ωc+ ωs)t ]

VVS S cos(wcos(wSSt)t)

VVC C cos(wcos(wCCt)t)

Mixer

VVIFIF

VVLOLO

VVRFRF

•• Gilbert multiplier based mixers• Switching transistors => multiply by square wave

Basic Oscillator Theory

Oscillator Circuits

• RC Oscillators

- easy to realise

- low, medium frequency

- poor phase noise performance

• LC Oscillators

- high frequency

- good phase noise performance

- suited for RF wireless applications

Voltage Controlled Oscillators (VCO)

• Wireless applications require that oscillators be tunable by a control signal

• Control signal is usually in the form of a voltage

VCOVcontωo

Vcont

ω2

ω

ω1

V2V1

VCO Design Parameters

LC VCO Design

Multi Band VCO

IF 300MHz 900MHz

GSM band

1200MHz 1500MHz 1800MHz

GSM band

300MHz 300MHzVCO band 1 VCO band 2

f f1600MHz

GPS

1800MHz

GSM/PCS/CDMA

200MHz

(a) (b)

IF 300MHz 900MHz

GSM band

1200MHz 1500MHz 1800MHz

GSM band

300MHz 300MHzVCO band 1 VCO band 2

f f1600MHz

GPS

1800MHz

GSM/PCS/CDMA

200MHz

(a) (b)

• Multi-band operation is accomplished by tuning LC VCO with two control lines, one for continuous tuning and the other for digital band selection. The continuous tuning is used for PLL control and channel select. The digital tuning is used for RF band selection using MOSFET varactors.

Examples:1. A synthesizer for 900MHz/1800MHz GSM transceiver using wide-band IF

double conversion architecture with a fixed IF of 300MHz. A multi-band VCO can be designed to operate in the bands of 1200MHz and 1500MHz. Fig. (a)

2. The VCO can be shared between 1800MHz frequency band (GSM, PCS, WCDMA) and the GPS band 1600MHz. Fig. (b)

A Dual-Mode Frequency Synthesizerfor 3G

A fully integrated dual mode frequency synthesizer for GSM and WCDMA with maximum hardware sharing:

A Dual-Mode Frequency Synthesizerfor 3G (cont’)

Shared components Non-shared components

VCOInteger frequency

dividerPFD, CP, loop filter

Crystal oscillator

GSM 1580-1630MHz

Divided by246-254

Loop filter ω3dB ~

320kHz

80MHz /2 output divider, /32 input divider,2nd ΔΣ modulator

WCDMA 1785-1845MHz

Divided by357-369

/25 input divider

Frequency divider:• Integer frequency divider for GSM

• Fractional frequency divider for WCDMA

Dual band VCO:• NMOS accumulation mode varactor for band-to-band switching

• PN junction varactor for in-band tuning

Shared components:•PFD, CP, integer frequency divider, loop filter, VCO, reference signal, 70% of total die area

Performance Specifications ofFrequency synthesizers

• Frequency range

• Frequency resolution

• Lock time

• Spectral purity

phase noise

harmonics

spur

Broadband Synthesizer

Frequency Synthesizer

Example of a Wireless

Transceiver Front-End

Frequency synthesizer

implemented as a

phase-locked loop (PLL)

General role of a

frequency synthesizer for wireless applications

Frequency generation scheme

Challenges due to

incompatible specifications in the design

of PLLs

Spur level

Frequency range

Phase noise

Power consumption

Area

Locking time

Goal

Specs

Challenges addressed in this work

Frequency generation scheme II

By running the VCO at high frequencies and using fixed dividers before the output, we can theoretically lower the phase noise floor by a maximum of

30log(n)

where n is the division ratio

This is mainly due to:• The reduced VCO tank parallel resistance at higher

frequencies• The division factor

Frequency generation scheme III

Proposed scheme:

VCOwith switchablecapacitors and inductors

Advantages:• Low phase noise• Wide frequency range• Small area due to the smaller inductors at high frequencies

Standards chosen

Standard

Start Freq.

Original (MHz)

End Freq.

Original (MHz)

Start Freq.

×2 (MHz)

End Freq.

×2 (MHz)

Start Freq.

×4 (MHz)

End Freq.

×4 (MHz)

DCS1800 1710 1880 3420 3760 6840 7520

WCDMA II 1850 1990 3700 3980 7400 7960

WCDMA III 1710 1880 3420 3760 6840 7520

DECT 1881.792 1897.344 3763.584 3794.688 7527.168 7589.376

IEEE802.11b/g 2412 2472 4824 4944 9648 9888

IEEE802.11a 5150 5825 10300 11650 20600 23300

Bluetooth 2402 2480 4804 4960 9608 9920

Implementation of the VCO

Vtune

Vcap

Vind

• PMOS transistors to reduce 1/f noise• L1: L=320pH and Q=16• L2: L=280pH and Q=24• The RF switch acts as a filter and its loss is

less than 1dB when it is ON.• Frequency ranges:

– When only L1 is selected, the frequency range is 6.8GHz to 8GHz

– When all the inductors are selected, the frequency range is 4.8GHz to 6GHz

• The resistors are used for DC biasing of the source/drain terminals of the MOS switch devices.

L1

L2

L1

L2

Implementation of the frequency divider

• Input frequency range is 4.5GHz to 8GHz

• Differential prescaler implementation designed to divide by 2 and by 4 and to generate quadrature signals at the same time.

• The design is not fully-differential which allows the circuit to operate with a wide frequency range and makes it less sensitive to variations in the input voltage.

One divider core

Oscillator startup

Inductor switchON - OFF

VCO @ 5.3 GHz

VCO @ 7.4 GHz

tr tftset tset

tp

Simulation results of the combination VCO-dividers

Switching the inductors:• Control signal has a period tp of

5ns and a rise time tr and a fall time tf of 0.5ns.

• Steep rise or fall flanks of the switch do not influence much the performance of the VCO due to the parallel-serial placement of the switch over the inductors.

• A settling time (tset) of 1.1ns is observed, which is due to the loop-back of the VCO signal.

• The output amplitudes differ due to the unequal losses at 7.4GHz and 5.3GHz.

Layout of the complete design

• 0.18µm CMOS• Careful floor planning was made. For

example, the layout of the dividers was done in a symmetrical manner so as to avoid I/Q imbalances.

• Blocks:1. VCO2. buffers for 50Ω matching with ESD

protection and for driving the divider input load

3. dividers by 2 and 4 with 50Ωbuffers and ESD protection

1.5mm

1.6

mm 2

1 3

Analog Baseband Chains

Goals/Motivation

• Develop baseband chains for 3G Integrated Wireless receivers– Tailored for Integrated Cellular,cordless and Indoor applications– Based on regular modules for short design time

• Investigate and propose new CMOS circuits and techniques suitable for integrated receivers– Low Power Consumption– Digitally Programmable– Simple and Robust Filter/VGA/OTA circuit structures

Digitally Programmable CMOS Filter/VGAfor wireless base stations

Specifications• Signal of Interest : 12MHz - 23MHz

• Pass Band of Filter : 12MHz - 23MHz (-0.5dB corner points)

• Pass Band Ripple : < 0.5dB

• Stop Band : 0MHz - 5MHz and after 40MHz

• Stop Band Attenuation : > 25dB

• Programmable Gain : -10 dB to 30 dB in steps of 1 dB

• Linearity (IMD) : > 53 dBc

• Signal to Noise Ratio : > 57 dB (noise integrated over 5MHz Bandwidth)

6dB step

(-12~0) dB+6 dB (-12~0) dB +6 dB

2nd order LPF

1st orderHPF 6dB step 3dB step

(-12~0) dB

2nd orderLPF

+6 dBattenuator attenuator attenuator

+6 dB

2nd order HPF6dB step

(-12~0) dBattenuator

2nd orderLPF

2nd orderHPF

2nd orderLPF1dB step

(-4~0) dBattenuator +6 dB 0 dB

*LPF: Low pass filter *HPF: High pass filter

Vin+

Vin-

Vout+

Vout-

Proposed Filter/VGA Chain

• 6 dB gain buffers in 5 filter stages provide fixed 30 dB gain.• Use filter stages with voltage gain to eliminate the need for VGA stages.• 5 digitally programmable attenuators attenuate 30 dB gain in 1 dB steps of gain

Vin+

Buffer

Vin-

Vout+

Vout-

+

_

+

_

Vin+

Buffer

Vin-

Vout+

Vout-

+

_

+

_

R R

R R

C1

C1

C2

C2

Use the buffer circuit to implement fully differential Sallen-Key filter sections.

Filter tuning is achieved by 4 bit binary weighted capacitor array.

Use resistive chain to attenuate the gainIn 1/3/6 dB steps.

Programmable gain variation: -10 – 30 dB

5 bit digital control

The frequency response of VGA/Filter chain

RFFilter

RFFilter

RFFilter

RFFilter

LNA

LNA

LNA

LNA

LO

LO

LO

LO

VGA

VGA

DC offsetcontrol

Gain ControlBandwidth control

ADC

ADC

DSP

Multi-Standard Receiver

DSP controls•DC Offset•Gain of VGA•Bandwidth of LPF

How to make Multi-Standard Receiver digitally programmable in CMOS?

1) R-2R ladders

2) Digitally Controlled Current Follower by applying CDN.

3) Digitally Controlled Filter by applying R-2R ladders and DCCF

R-2R ladders

R

β

V I

2R 2R 2R 2R 2R

Ir Ir/2 Ir/4 Ir/8

R R R R

2R

b1

Ir Ir/2 Ir/4 Ir/8

b2 b3 bnb4

I

R-2R

•Digital control word is applied through MOS switches and the resistors are implemented by poly layers in CMOS process.

•The total resistance of the ladder is controlled by closing or opening the switches to realize binary-weighted currents with a resistance ratio of 2.

Vdd

Iin/2 Iin/4

d1 d1 d2

Io(Virtual ground)

Iin/(2n)

dn dnd2

Current Division Network (CDN)

Iin

•Due to the geometrical symmetry of MOS device, The linear current inter relationships in the resistive network are maintained in the MOS implementation.

•Digital control word is applied through MOS Switches and the current flowing is controlled

Izp

α

Digitally Controlled Current Follower

VDD

Vb

M1

M2

M3

Mc

M12 M4

M5 M6

M8M7

M10M9M13

M11

Vc

Isb

VDD

VSS

X Z

X DCCF ZIx

Ibp

CDN

•The DCCF is a current follower with programmable gain that can be controlled digitally

•Use a CDN to provide precise gain characteristics by precise digital trimming.

Digitally Programmable Fully Differential Filter

x DCCF z

CMFB

x DCCF z

1x

1x

R2R

R2R

x DCCF z

CMFB

x DCCF z

1x

1x

R2R

R2R

R2R

R2R

R2R

Vcm

Vcm

C2

C2

VoVi

R2

R2

R1

R1

R3

R3Rin

Rin

α2

α2

α1

α1

C1

C1 R2R

•The filter is used for channel selection in a multi-standard wireless receiver•Cuff-off frequency and DC gain are controlled digitally

The die photo of 6th order digitally programmable filter

Measured AC response: PDC and IS-54

Measured AC response: GSM

Measured AC response: WCDMA

Filter 6th-order Butterworth

Technology 0.5 um CMOS

Chip area 1.25 mm2

Supply voltage 2.7 V

Current consumption 2.25 mA

Frequency tuning range 5kHz-5MHz

Gain 18 dB

Statistical gain variation(25 chips) 0.44 dB

IIP3(Inband)PDC(IS-95)/GSM/IS-95/WCDMA

28.3/25.6/23.7/21.9 dBm

IIP3(stopband)PDC(IS-95)/GSM/IS-95/WCDMA

61/59.5/56/51.4 dBm

Input referred noisePDC(IS-95)/GSM/IS-95/WCDMA

30/45/69/85 uV

Stopband rejectionPDC(IS-95)/GSM/IS-95/WCDMA

80/80/76/70 dB

SFDRPDC(IS-95)/GSM/IS-95/WCDMA

92/89/84/80 dB

Passband ripple 0.2 dB

PSRR (passband) 40.3 dB

Summary of Multi-Standard Channel Select Filter Performance

Compact TDD Wireless Radio Transceiver

Motivation

• Silicon estate!– Baseband circuitry processing I/Q signals for both

RX and TX paths could occupy up to 50% of the total die area

– Especially for a multistandard transceiver in a single chip and for a sensor node in a sensor network

Sample Die Photo

R. Ahola et al, “A Single-Chip CMOS Transceiver for 802.11a/b/g Wireless LANs”, IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits, vol.39, no.12, pp2250-2258, Dec.2004

Direct Conversion Transceiver

LPFVGA

VGA LPF

LPF VGA

VGA

ADC

ADC

Q

LPF

PA

LNA

Frequency

Synthesizer

I

DAC

I

Q

DAC

DC Offset Cancellation


fRFf

0f

T/RSwitch

Idea

• Design one programmable baseband chain• Share one baseband chain with receiver and

transmitter– Time-Division Duplexing (TDD) systems only

Compact TDD Wireless Transceiver

Q

I

DAC

DAC

Q

ADC

ADC



Synthesizer

Frequency

LNA

PA

LPF VGA

VGALPF

I

Compact TDD Wireless Transceiver:Receive Mode

VGA

VGA


LPF

LNA

Frequency

Synthesizer

LPF


I

ADC

ADC

Q

Compact TDD Wireless Transceiver:Transmit Mode

VGA



DAC

VGAPA

Frequency

Synthesizer

LPF

LPFI

Q

DAC

Design Issues

• TDD systems only• Dynamic behavior due to switches

– Settling time• DC feedback loop• Automatic Gain Control (AGC) loop

– Synchronization with RF T/R switches

DC Offset Cancellation in Direct Conversion

Multistandard Wireless Receivers

Possible WiMAX/Super 3G Radio

• DC offset corrupts the signal and may saturate the analog baseband stages

Generation of DC Offsets in DCR

• Transistor mismatches in the signal path• Second-order intermodulation (IM2) of the

components such as LNAs, mixers, and filters…

• Self-mixing of LO signal leaking into LNA input and mixer RF input

• Self-mixing of LO signal leaking into, radiated from, and reflected back to antenna

• Self-mixing of strong in-band interferers leaking into mixer LO input

LNA

LO Leakage

LNA

LO Leakage

LNA

Interferer Leakage

Self-mixing due to interferer leakage

Self-mixing due to LO leakage Self-mixing due to LO leakage radiated

DC Offsets Generated by Three Self-Mixing Mechanisms

Modeling of DC Offsets

• Goal: Identifying static (time-invariant) and dynamic (time-varying) DC offsets generated by three self-mixing mechanisms:– Self-mixing due to LO leakage (2 cases)– Self-mixing due to interferer leakage

• Assumption: components (e.g. LNA, mixer, filter) are ideal (No nonlinearities)

• I-branch only

Ideally…

u(t) x(t)s(t) y(t)LPFLNA

l(t)

Using complex envelop representation…

Received signal:

LO signal:

A: LNA gain

b(t): information signalfc: carrier frequency

Self-Mixing due to LO Leakage

LNA

LO Leakage

l(t)

y(t)s(t) x(t)

12K K

LNA LPFu(t)

Self-Mixing due to LO Leakage

l(t)

y(t)s(t) x(t)

12K K

LNA LPFu(t)

Static DC offset

LNA

LO Leakage

3K

x(t)s(t) y(t)

l(t)

Doppler Shift

LNA LPFu(t)

Self-Mixing due to LO Leakage Radiated

Doppler Effect

fDS: Doppler shiftv: relative speedfc: carrier frequencyc: speed of lightα: angle of arrival

Maximum Doppler shift (α = 0) whenAverage human walking speed: 3.5 mphAverage vehicle driving speed: 60 mph

Self-Mixing due to LO Leakage Radiated

3K

x(t)s(t) y(t)

l(t)

Doppler Shift

LNA LPFu(t)

Dynamic DC offset

Self-Mixing due to Interferer Leakage

LNA

Interferer Leakage

u(t) x(t)y(t)s(t)

K 4

LNA LPF

l(t)

Self-Mixing due to Interferer Leakage

( fi: interferer frequency )

( fo= fi – fc )

u(t) x(t)y(t)s(t)

K 4

LNA LPF

l(t)

Static DC offset

Dynamic DC offset

Static and dynamic DC offsets

Static DC offset

Dynamic DC offset

( fo= fi – fc )Static DC offset

Dynamic DC offset

DC offsets in Frequency Domain

Static DC offsetDynamic DC offsetat unknown frequency foDesired signal

ffo0

To cancel static DC offset High-pass filter

To cancel dynamic DC offset Tunable Notch filter

DC Offset Cancellation in Analog Domain

VGALPFI

Q

ADC

ADCVGA

o90

LNABPF

LPF

Canceller

Canceller

DC Offset Canceller in Analog Domain

• AC Coupling• High Pass Filter• DC Feedback Loop

A1

H(s) A2

Good for static DC offset cancellationDifficult to remove dynamic DC offset

Transfer function:

DC Offset Cancellation in Digital Domain

I

Q

ADCVGA

DAC

90o

LNABPF

VGA ADC

LPF

DAC

LPF

DSP

DC Offset Canceller in Digital Domain

• Measure DC offset in digital domain and subtract it• For TDMA burst mode system:

– Measure DC offset using short known symbols in preamble– Subtract the measured value during reception using DAC

• For TDMA burst mode QPSK system:– Accumulate DC offset corrupted signals for a predetermined time

period to obtain the average of DC offset– Subtract the average value using DAC

Good for dynamic DC offset cancellationStill difficult to remove fast varying dynamic DC offsetNeed DAC for subtractingFor specific systems only, e.g. TDMA systems

For Multistandard DCR…

• The most concern is losing information…• The most important factor to consider

Information is at/near DC?• Modulation schemes!

– FSK: no information at DC– PSK: considerable energy around DC

• But in wideband systems HPF won’t degrade the performance much even in PSK• Most of WLAN and 3G standards use wideband systems

Wireless LAN Standards

3G Standards

DC Offset Cancellation for Multistandard DCR

• Static DC offset cancellation– Should be done in analog domain– Tunable HPF or DC feedback loop– To avoid significant degradation, cutoff frequency of HPF

should be about 0.1% of data rate [1]• Dynamic DC offset cancellation

– Should be done in digital domain– Should be working for most of systems

Adaptive filtering technique! (adaptive noise canceller)

[1] B. Razavi, “Design Considerations for Direct-Conversion Receivers”, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II, vol. 44, no. 6, June 1997

Multistandard DCR with DC Offset Cancellation I

DSPControl

Signals

HPF

HPF

Static DC OffsetCanceller

Canceller

Dynamic

CancellerDC Offset

DC OffsetCanceller

Dynamic

LPF

o90

LNA

LPFQ

IADCVGA

VGA ADC

Static DC Offset

Using tunable high-pass filters for static DC offset cancellation

Multistandard DCR with DC Offset Cancellation II

DC OffsetCanceller

Dynamic

DSPControl

Signals

Dynamic

CancellerDC Offset

FeedbackDC

FeedbackDC

Static DC OffsetCanceller

Canceller

o90

LNA

LPF

LPFQ

IADCVGA

VGA ADC

Static DC Offset

Using tunable DC feedback loops for static DC offset cancellation

Tunable DC Feedback Loop as Static DC offset canceller

Transfer function:

Gm

CR

AVoutVin

Frequency Response for Two Standards

101

102

103

104

105

106

107

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

Mag

nitu

de (

dB)

Blutooth 802.11b

Bode Diagram

Frequency (rad/sec)

Adaptive Noise Canceller (ANC) asDynamic DC offset canceller

• To track/cancel the dynamic DC offset in real-time, ANC would be the best choice!– ANC need both primary signal and reference signal

y(n)

e(n)

u(n) Adaptive

Filter

d(n)

w(n)

By adapting w(n), y(n) ≈ n1(n)

Primary signal:d(n) = s(n) + n1(n)

Reference signal:u(n) = n2(n)

e(n) = d(n) - y(n)≈ s(n)

signal (s(n)) and noises (n1,2(n)) are uncorrelatednoises (n1(n) and n2(n)) are correlated

Dynamic DC offsets

Dynamic DC offset

( fo= fi – fc )

Dynamic DC offset

Dynamic DC offset sinusoid at fo and fDS

Will be cancelled by static DC offset canceller as fDS is very low

Will be cancelled by dynamic DC offset canceller

ANC as Dynamic DC offset canceller

s(n): broadband signal containing informationo(n): sinusoidal dynamic DC offset at frequency fo

y(n)

e(n)

u(n)

s(n) + o(n) d(n)

Adaptive

Filter

Delay

(Δ)

Adaptive Noise Canceller

w(n)

u(n) = s(n - Δ) + o(n - Δ)

s(n) and s(n - Δ) are uncorrelated because s(n) is a broadband signalo(n) and o(n - Δ) are correlated because o(n) is a sinusoid

e(n) = d(n) - y(n)≈ s(n)

By adapting w(n), y(n) ≈ o(n)

ANC without external reference source(= Adaptive linear forward predictor)

How to Adapt the FIR Filter w(n)

• Least Mean Square (LMS)– Better tracking

w(n+1) = w(n) + μ u(n) e*(n)– Normalized LMS (NLMS)

w(n+1) = w(n) + μNLMS u(n) e*(n)μNLMS = 1/(μ-1 + ||u(n)||2)

• Recursive Least Square (RLS)– Better convergence

Simulation Setup

• Desired signal: 1 Mbps BPSK signal • Dynamic DC offset: 1 MHz and magnitude

bigger than signal by 30dB• Adaptive filter length: 9• Delay: 5• Adaptation using NLMS algorithm:

w(n+1) = w(n) + μNLMS u(n) e*(n)μNLMS = 1/(μ-1 + ||u(n)||2), μ = 0.001

1000-Symbol with Ideal Channel

0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000−40

−30

−20

−10

0

10

20

30

40AFP input signal d(n) corrupted by offset

0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000−25

−20

−15

−10

−5

0

5

10

15

20corrected signal and desired signal

es

DC offset corrupted input d(n) : DC offset canceller output e(n)( : when no DC offset applied)

1000-Symbol with Ideal Channel

100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000−1

−0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

2(raw data − demodulated data)2

100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000−1

−0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

2(raw data − demodulated data)2

Squared error of demodulated datawithout cancellation

Squared error of demodulated datawith cancellation

BER Performance with AWGN Channel

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1010

−6

10−5

10−4

10−3

10−2

10−1

100

BER − BPSK

Eb/N0 [dB]

BE

R

theory w/o offsetoffset with cancellationoffset w/o cancellation

Without dynamic DC offset canceller

With dynamic DC offset canceller

Theory without DC offset

TripleTraCTM 802.11 a/b/gWLAN Radio Transceiver

– Fully integrated 802.11a, 802.11g and 802.11b WLAN radio transceiver

– Multi standard programmable bandwidth

– Front end configurable for all frequency bands

– Minimum external components• Integrated VCO, LNA and filters

– Manufactured in 0.18µm CMOS – 48 QFN/MLF packaging, 7x7mm

footprint– Analog I/Q interface– Lowest power consumption– Partners for complete chip-set

Tx/Rx

Con

figur

able

RF

Dig

itally

P

rogr

amm

able

Anal

og B

aseb

and

DSP

/Mod

em

Rx Rx Rx

Tx Tx

Tx

Band Select(5GHz / 2.4GHz)

Bandwidth Select

Multi-standard WLAN chipset

PA2.4GHz

PA5.8GHz5.2GHz

RF2.4GHz

RF5.8GHz5.2GHz

Analog Base-band

ModemDSSS

ModemOFDM

802.11MAC

MAC,Modempartner

TripleTraCTMPApartner

Frequency Plan for Multi-band Operation

2400 2485 5150 5350 5825

f (MHz)3840 4320

RF Spectrum

Local Oscillator ( LO1)

IF

1310 1565 f (MHz)

Local Oscillator (LO2)

f (MHz)

Baseband

f (MHz)0

0

5470 5725

4160

2400 2485 5150 5350 5825

f (MHz)3840 4320

1310 1565 f (MHz)

f (MHz)

f (MHz)0

0

5470 5725

4160

f (MHz)

I

Q

I

Q

I

Q

I

Q

5GHz LNA

LO1 LO2

RX IF Mixers

2GHz LNA

TX IF Mixers

5GHz LNA

LO1 LO2

RX RF Mixer RX IF Mixers

2GHz LNA

TX IF Mixers

TX RF 5G Mixer

TX RF 2G Mixer2G Preamp

5G Preamp

LPF

LPF

LPF

LPF

5GHz/2.4GHz Multi-Band Transceiver Without Image Rejection

Die photo of multi-standard WLAN radio

3.6mm

3.3m

m

• Die area ~12mm2

• 48-pin QFN pkg• 0.18µm 1P6M

CMOS

RX5 5240MHZ

RX2 2437MHZ

Radio test results

Radio test results

Phase Noise at PA output

Radio test results

Radio test results

Measured PerformanceSummary

ScannerIC™

• Highly-integrated single-chip Discovery/Mobility device that enables users to detect 802.11b/g Access Points (AP) and find an optimum location for connectivity

– Monitors beacon frames and extracts SSID – Measures the signal quality of the WLAN medium, and the network condition including

available bandwidth and channel access delays– Enables seamless AP hand-off

• Implements the 802.11b receiver chain and baseband, as well as a small portion of the standard MAC

– Only external receiver components required are a balun and a bandpass filter– Pin Count: 20– Low Power Consumption: <150 mW– High Sensitivity: -82dBm– 0.18um CMOS Process

HWD

MURATS™

• Single-chip MUlti Radio Access Technology Scanner targeting next generation multi-standard communication appliances– GSM, WCDMA and WLAN scanning and radio measurement

solution– Supports fast and seamless handover/roaming between

heterogeneous radio technologies– “Always Best Connected” - ensuring that users are always

connected to the best RAT (Radio Access Technology) through cell/channel selection or reselection

• Implements the receive chain only operating on low rate broadcast channels– Several complex functions not needed including power control,

security, channel demultiplexing, variable spreading, channel synthesizer

– High block sharing including micro-controller, equalizer, channel decoder, CRC check, ADC, analog RF blocks

– Other RATs added in the future making the device a universal scanner

SWIP™

• Single-chip WLAN Internet Phone targeting the high volume residential/SOHO market

– VoIP based on SIP standardized by IETF in RFC 2543/3261 & TIA/TR41. Supports SIP voice and instant messaging. Implements the emerging 802.11e QoS standard

– Optimized to support the basic rates of 802.11 WLANs, particularly 1-2 Mbit/s

• Contains all the blocks required to build a low-cost VoIP/WLAN handset:

– Low power CPU core, voice codec, embedded memory, various user interface blocks and 802.11 PHY (including PA)

– Pin Count: 96

– Low power consumption: <300mW

– High sensitivity: -82dBm

– 20dBm transmit power

– 0.18um CMOS Process– Supports several low power mode operations

SWIP Hardware Architecture

SWAP™

• Single-chip WLAN Application Platform optimized for low power, small form factor and low cost

• Targeting highly-portable multimedia and IP telephony appliances • Same hardware as SWIP™, but excludes the voice codec & the VoIP

engine– 802.11 MAC, Baseband, RF Front-end and PA– Supports WLAN basic rates of 1-2 Mbit/s via UART interface – Pin Count: 56

– Low power consumption: <250mW

– High sensitivity: -82dBm

– 20dBm transmit power

– 0.18um CMOS Process

– Supports several low power mode operations– Underlying design is 11 Mbits/s capable

Over-Design and Yield Loss in RFICs

Parasitic Effects Random Process Variations

Element Mismatches

Inaccurate Models

Substrate Noise Coupling

Capacitive/Electromagnetic on-chip Coupling

Loading & Interconnects

Degrade Performance Decrease in Yield

Over-design, Non-optimal Power Solutions

Is only one silicon spin important?

• YES!• Three reasons

– NRE costs– Mask set costs– Time to market

NRE Costs

• NRE stands for nonrecurring engineering• It is the cost of paying the design team’s salaries and

overhead for the project duration• Typical design cycle

Specification2-4 weeks

Design3-6 months

Layout2-4 months

Fabrication8 weeks

Test1-3 months6-9 months for 1 design cycle!

Mask Set Costs

$0

$500,000

$1,000,000

$1,500,000

$2,000,000

$2,500,000

$3,000,000

0.35 0.25 0.18 0.13 0.09 0.065

Feature Size (um)

Mask Set Cost

Source: http://www.m2000.fr/products.htm

Total Cost Per Spin

• The cost for a team of 10 people for 9 months is over $500,000

• For a common 0.18 process, the cost of a single mask set is $250,000

• So the dollar cost for the first spin is over $750,000.

• Additional spins take less time and cost less, but can still cost more than $400,000

• However, they can have an impact on the business

Time for Extra Spins

• Even if the dollar cost for the extra spin is not great, the time cost can be the biggest expense

• If the error is small and can be fixed in 1 month, it still takes the 8 weeks to fabricate the new chip

• Then the new chip has to be tested again, which is another month slip

• So in the best case, a respin costs about 4 extra months

• This 4 months is time missed in the market, and time the engineers are not working on the next product

Developing a new methodology in designing radio systems based on:

Study of the key system parameters (BER, EVM,…)

Study of the effect of each block non-ideality on the specific system parameter (sensitivity analysis).

Developing self awareness

Monitoring block performance

Developing self calibration)

Global control of parameters

Proposed Methodology

Rx

Con

figur

able

RF

Dig

itally

Prog

ram

mab

leA

nalo

g B

aseb

and

DSP

Rx

Digital Band Select Digital Data Rate &Channel Select

Freq

uenc

y Sy

nthe

size

r

Calibration

off chip passives

Block/Sub-System

Analog / RF Block

CircuitControl

Parameters

AdaptiveDSP Algorithm

A/D

Proposed Methodology

Master ControlInitializationSchedule Supervision and correction

Shared ResourcesA/D and D/A

System

Adaptive DSP, Digital Auto-Calibration

Our Vision for a First-Pass Multi-Mode Receiver

RxC

onfig

urab

le R

F

Dig

itally

Pr

ogra

mm

able

Ana

log

Bas

eban

d

Rx

Digital Band Select

Freq

uenc

y Sy

nthe

size

r

Calibration

DSPGSM,

WCDAM,

WLAN WiMAX,….

AGC,I/Q balance,

DC Offset,….

“Smarts”for

First Pass

Digital Data Rate &Channel Select

off chip passives

Chip under testMulti-standard radio receiver (WiMAX/WLAN,

OFDM UWB) implemented on TSMC0.13 um technology.

Focus on RF RX System Parameters

• Robust – A mature design methodology

• DSP– Enables use of sophisticated signal

processing algorithms– Can be part of a digital baseband in a

wireless chipset• Mature

– Significantly more mature design methodology compared to RF/Analog

• scalable and Flexible• Minimum risk, 1st time-right.

Why Digital Calibration?

FPGA

Demo a First-Time-Right radio

Conclusion I

• Design Techniques achieving maximum hardware share at minimum power consumption (configurable radio, programmable analog baseband)

• Improvement in technology, characterization, packaging techniques are needed

• Migration to future wireless standards for higher data rates and multimedia applications

• Eventual convergence of LAN, WAN, PAN infrastructures for seamless wireless communication

•Need for higher levels of integration, available only in CMOS technologies

• Technology scaling favors multi GHz RFCMOS

• New challenges, careful system partitioning, good mixed signal strategy, maximize digital content

Conclusions II

• As we migrate to high data rates beyond 3G, radio design will become more complex

• CMOS has adequate performance to meet the challenge

• Innovations in frequency planning and radio architecture design will make it happen

• Low power design must be incorporated at all levels, architecture, block and circuit

Thank You!

first-pass-silicon radio technology for b3g wireless …

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