Design of CMOS RFIC Ultra-Wideband Impulse Transmitters and Receivers

118 Pages·2017·4.274 MB·English

by  Cam Nguyen, Meng Miao (auth.)

SPRINGER BRIEFS IN
ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING
Cam Nguyen
Meng Miao
Design of CMOS
RFIC Ultra-
Wideband Impulse
Transmitters and
Receivers
123
SpringerBriefs in Electrical and Computer
Engineering
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/10059
Cam Nguyen Meng Miao
(cid:129)
Design of CMOS RFIC
Ultra-Wideband Impulse
Transmitters and Receivers
123
CamNguyen MengMiao
Texas A&MUniversity Texas A&MUniversity
CollegeStation, TX CollegeStation, TX
USA USA
ISSN 2191-8112 ISSN 2191-8120 (electronic)
SpringerBriefs inElectrical andComputer Engineering
ISBN978-3-319-53105-2 ISBN978-3-319-53107-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-53107-6
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2017931998
©TheAuthor(s)2017
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Preface
Impulse-based ultra-wideband (UWB) systems, notably unlicensed UWB systems
operating across or within 3.1–10.6 GHz, are unique systems possessing many
desired characteristics, owing to the transmission and reception of only a single
signal having pulse waveform at all times, rather than multiple consecutive CW
signalshavingsinusoidalwaveformatdifferenttimesasinCW-basedsystems.This
unique operation is equivalent to transmitting and receiving many CW signals
across an extremely broad bandwidth concurrently. A UWB impulse system can
hence be considered to some extent as electrically equivalent to multiple CW
systems, each operating at asinglefrequency in an ultra-wide bandwidth, working
simultaneously. It is this unique operation that makes the UWB impulse systems
distinctly different from the UWB CW systems, not only in the design and per-
formance,butalsoinapplications.ThethreemostimportantsubsystemsinaUWB
impulsesystem,asinanyotherRFsystems,aretheUWBtransmitter,receiver,and
antenna.
Silicon-based Complementary-Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) RFICs
plays a dominant role in realizing miniature low-cost and low-power consumption
single-chip RF systems, which are particularly essential for portable or hand-held
implementations.CMOSsingle-chipRFICtransmittersandreceiversareespecially
needed for advanced miniature UWB impulse systems.
This book is devoted to the design of CMOS RFIC UWB impulse transmitters
and receivers and their components for UWB impulse systems. Specifically, it
addresses three main topics of UWB impulse transmitters and receivers:
CMOS UWB transmitter design, CMOS UWB receiver design, and UWB uni-
planar antenna design. The book also describes the actual design, simulation,
fabrication and measurement of these subsystems, which can readily be integrated
together to realize UWB impulse systems for potential applications in communi-
cations and sensing.
Although the book is succinct, the material is very much self-contained and
containspractical,valuableandsufficientinformation presentedinsuchaway that
allowsreaderswithundergraduatebackgroundinelectricalengineeringorphysics,
withsomeexperiencesorgraduatecoursesinRFcircuits,tounderstandanddesign
v
vi Preface
easily UWB impulse transmitters, receivers, and antennas for various UWB
applications.
Thebookisusefulforengineers,physicists,andgraduatestudentswhoworkin
radar,sensor,andcommunicationsystemsaswellasthoseinvolvedinthedesignof
RFcircuitsandsystems.Itisoursincerehopethatthebookcanservenotonlyasa
reference for the development of UWB systems and components, but also for
possible generation of innovative ideas that can benefit many existing sensing and
communication applications or be implemented for other new applications.
College Station, USA Cam Nguyen
Chandler, USA Meng Miao
Contents
1 Introduction.... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 1
References.. .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 5
2 Fundamentals of UWB Impulse Systems.. .... .... .... ..... .... 7
2.1 Introduction .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 7
2.2 UWB Overview . .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 7
2.2.1 UWB Basics.. ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 7
2.2.2 UWB Advantages... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 8
2.2.3 UWB Applications .. .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 11
2.3 UWB Impulse Signals ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 11
2.3.1 Gaussian Impulse ... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 12
2.3.2 Gaussian Monocycle Pulse .... .... .... .... ..... .... 12
2.3.3 Gaussian Doublet Pulse... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 15
2.4 Basic Modulation Topologies.... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 17
2.4.1 PPM .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 17
2.4.2 PAM.... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 18
2.4.3 OOK Modulation ... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 18
2.4.4 BPSK Modulation... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 19
2.5 UWB Impulse Transmitters and Receivers.. .... .... ..... .... 19
2.5.1 UWB Impulse Transmitters.... .... .... .... ..... .... 19
2.5.2 UWB Impulse Receivers.. .... .... .... .... ..... .... 21
2.6 UWB Antennas . .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 23
2.7 Summary .. .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 23
References.. .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 23
3 UWB Impulse Transmitter Design... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 25
3.1 Introduction .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 25
3.2 Overview of Basic Components of UWB Impulse
Transmitters .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 27
3.2.1 CMOS Inverter Basics ... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 27
vii
viii Contents
3.2.2 CMOS Inverter Switching Characteristics. .... ..... .... 29
3.2.3 Two-Input CMOS NOR/NAND Gate Blocks .. ..... .... 31
3.2.4 Tunable Delay Cell.. .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 32
3.3 Tunable Pulse Generator Design.. .... .... .... .... ..... .... 33
3.3.1 Tuning Delay Component. .... .... .... .... ..... .... 33
3.3.2 Square Wave Generator .. .... .... .... .... ..... .... 35
3.3.3 Impulse-Forming Block... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 37
3.3.4 Pulse-Shaping Circuit .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 38
3.3.5 Tunable Pulse Illustration . .... .... .... .... ..... .... 38
3.3.6 Simulation and Measurement Results .... .... ..... .... 39
3.4 BPSK Modulator Design ... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 47
3.5 UWB Tunable Transmitter Design.... .... .... .... ..... .... 50
3.5.1 UWB Tunable Impulse Transmitter Design.... ..... .... 50
3.6 Summary .. .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 54
References.. .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 54
4 UWB Receiver Design.... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 57
4.1 Introduction .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 57
4.2 UWB LNA. .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 58
4.2.1 UWB LNA Topology.... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 58
4.2.2 UWB LNA Analysis. .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 61
4.2.3 UWB LNA Noise Analysis.... .... .... .... ..... .... 63
4.2.4 UWB LNA Design.. .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 68
4.2.5 On-Chip Spiral Inductor Design .... .... .... ..... .... 69
4.2.6 UWB LNA Fabrication and Performance . .... ..... .... 73
4.3 UWB Correlator Design.... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 77
4.3.1 DC Analysis.. ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 79
4.3.2 AC Analysis.. ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 81
4.3.3 UWB Correlator Fabrication and Performance . ..... .... 82
4.4 UWB Receiver.. .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 84
4.5 Summary .. .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 86
References.. .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 86
5 UWB Uniplanar Antenna. ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 89
5.1 Introduction .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 89
5.2 UWB Uniplanar Antenna Design. .... .... .... .... ..... .... 91
5.3 UWB Uniplanar Antenna Fabrication and Test... .... ..... .... 98
5.4 Performance of UWB Transmit Prototype Integrating
UWB Uniplanar Antenna and UWB Pulse Generator.. ..... .... 100
5.5 Summary .. .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 102
References.. .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 103
6 Summary and Conclusions..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 105
Bibliogarphy .. .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 109
Index .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 111
Chapter 1
Introduction
The origin of “Ultra-Wideband” technology can be traced back to the early 1960s
on time-domain electromagnetics, when the study of electromagnetic-wave prop-
agation was primarily viewed from the time-domain perspective, rather than from
the more common sinusoidal-signal based frequency domain. Nevertheless, the
term Ultra-Wideband (UWB) was only used for the first time in 1994 by the U.S.
Department of Defense to indicate impulse-based systems, which by the nature of
the pulse waveforms, involve very wide bandwidths. In general, however,
ultra-wideband (UWB) systems should not be limited to systems employing pulse
signals and/or over operating over a specific bandwidth or frequency range; rather
theyshouldrefertosystemsthatoperateoveranultra-widebandwidthregardlessof
the employed signal waveforms (e.g., pulse or sinusoid). These systems may have
different architectures and be used for different applications such as impulse-based
systems and continuous-wave (CW) sinusoid-based systems with different trans-
mitting signal’s frequency modulationslike frequency modulated CW (FMCW)or
stepped-frequencysystem.Specifically,ascommonlyacknowledged,asystemmay
be classified as a UWB system when its operating frequency range is wider than
500 MHz or 20% fractional bandwidth.
ThemostdistinguisheddifferencebetweenaUWBimpulse1systemandaUWB
FMCWorstepped-frequency system (andingeneralothernon-pulseorCWbased
systems) is their transmitting waveforms. A UWB FMCW system transmits and
receivesCWsinusoidalsignals,onesignalateachfrequency,subsequentlyacrossa
wide bandwidth. A UWB FMCW system does not transmit and receive signals of
differentfrequenciessimultaneously.Thatis,aUWBFMCWsystemoperatesover
a wide bandwidth of single-frequency signals. A UWB stepped-frequency system
transmits a train of CW signals across a wide frequency range, each at different
frequency separated by a certain amount, toward targets and receives reflected
signals from the targets. The received in-phase and quadrature signals are then
1Theword“impulse”isusedlooselyhere.Itdoesnotindicatea“true”impulse,butsimplypulses
withanarrowpulsewidth.
©TheAuthor(s)2017 1
C.NguyenandM.Miao,DesignofCMOSRFICUltra-WidebandImpulse
TransmittersandReceivers,SpringerBriefsinElectricalandComputerEngineering,
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-53107-6_1