Linearization and Efficiency Enhancement Techniques for Silicon Power Amplifiers: From RF to mmW

155 Pages·2015·18.63 MB·English

by  Eric Kerhervé

Linearization and Efficiency
Enhancement Techniques for
Silicon Power Amplifiers
Linearization and Efficiency
Enhancement Techniques for
Silicon Power Amplifiers
From RF to mmW
Eric Kerhervé
University of Bordeaux, IMS Laboratory, CNRS UMR 5218,
Bordeaux INP France
Didier Belot
STMicroelectronics, Rue Jean Monnet, Crolles;
CEA-LETI, Rue de Martyrs, Grenoble
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LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
MohammadhassanAkbarpour
IntelligentRFRadioLaboratory(iRadioLab),DepartmentofElectricaland
ComputerEngineering,UniversityofCalgary,Calgary,AB,CanadaT2N1N4
AlexisAulery
UniversityofBordeaux,IMSLaboratory,CNRSUMR5218,BordeauxINPFrance
DidierBelot
STMicroelectronics,RueJeanMonnet,Crolles;CEA-LETI,RuedeMartyrs,
Grenoble
DominiqueDallet
UniversityofBordeaux,IMSLaboratory,CNRSUMR5218,BordeauxINPFrance
KaushikDasgupta
CaliforniaInstituteofTechnology(Caltech),Pasadena,CA
NicolasDelaunay
UniversityofBordeaux,IMSLaboratory,CNRSUMR5218,BordeauxINPFrance;
STMicroelectronics,RueJeanMonnet,Crolles
NathalieDeltimple
UniversityofBordeaux,IMSLaboratory,CNRSUMR5218,BordeauxINPFrance
FadhelM.Ghannouchi
IntelligentRFRadioLaboratory(iRadioLab),DepartmentofElectricaland
ComputerEngineering,UniversityofCalgary,Calgary,AB,CanadaT2N1N4
AliHajimiri
CaliforniaInstituteofTechnology(Caltech),Pasadena,CA
MohamedHelaoui
IntelligentRFRadioLaboratory(iRadioLab),DepartmentofElectricaland
ComputerEngineering,UniversityofCalgary,Calgary,AB,CanadaT2N1N4
EricKerhervé
UniversityofBordeaux,IMSLaboratory,CNRSUMR5218,BordeauxINPFrance
BertrandLeGal
UniversityofBordeaux,IMSLaboratory,CNRSUMR5218,BordeauxINPFrance
viii ListofContributors
BaudouinMartineau
STMicroelectronics,Crolles,France;Univ.GrenobleAlpes,F-38000Grenoble,
France;CEA,LETI,MINATECCampus,F-38054Grenoble,France
EarlMcCune
RFCommunicationsConsulting,SantaClara,CA
UllrichR.Pfeiffer
High-FrequencyandCommunicationTechnology,UniversityofWuppertal,
Wuppertal,Germany
ChihebRebai
GRES’COMLab,SUP’COM,UniversityofCarthage,Tunisia
NeelanjanSarmah
High-FrequencyandCommunicationTechnology,UniversityofWuppertal,
Wuppertal,Germany
11
CHAPTER
Holistic Approaches for Power Generation,
Linearization, and Radiation in CMOS
Ali Hajimiri and Kaushik Dasgupta
CaliforniaInstituteofTechnology(Caltech),Pasadena,CA
The field of wireless communications has experienced an exponential
growth over the past four decades, going from the realm of science
fiction to becoming so ubiquitous and natural that the younger genera-
tions have a difficult time imagining a world without it. This has been
made possible through many breakthroughs in our understanding of
the nature of wireless communications and, more importantly, numer-
ous innovative enabling technologies that have made personal wireless
communication an everyday reality.
Creating the fascinating edifice that is the connected world of
ubiquitous access to information has been made possible through effec-
tive complexity management performed through a process of divide
and conquer. This is possible through a systematic process of speciali-
zation and subspecialization in electrical engineering and its associated
fields that have been part of the historic trends in this area, creating
levels of abstractions within which a small group of people can design
for a given set of specifications. This is what has enabled this complex-
ity management. These levels of abstraction have played a key role in
our ability to deploy such complex systems such as our wireless com-
munication systems. A typical example of the hierarchy of these levels
of abstractions is shown in Figure 1.1.
In radiofrequency integrated circuit (RFIC) design, the same trends
have been present since the inception of RFIC and monolithic micro-
wave integrated circuits (MMICs). The system architectures are
defined and created at a separate time and by a different group of engi-
neers than those who define the chip architectures and those who
LinearizationandEfficiencyEnhancementTechniquesforSiliconPowerAmplifiers.
DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-418678-1.00001-5
©2015ElsevierInc.Allrightsreserved.
2 LinearizationandEfficiencyEnhancementTechniquesforSiliconPowerAmplifiers
Application
System
Architecture
Circuits
Devices
Physics
Figure1.1Levelsofabstractioninasystem.
Complete design space
System Architecture
Circuits
Device
EM/μW physics
Figure1.2Thedesignspaceanditssubspaces,limitingtherangeofdesignpossibilitiesconsidered.
design the transistor levels circuit blocks. The electromagnetic design
(e.g., antenna and off-chip passive components) has also been generally
performed by yet another group of designers. This partitioning of tasks
has enabled speedy and tractable design of such systems; however, it
has also created impediments in the way of innovation by limiting the
number of possibilities that can be considered in the design of the
entire system by constraining the design space to a limited subset of all
possibilities (Figure 1.2).
These somewhat arbitrary levels of abstractions have resulted in
some of the classical approaches to RFIC design, with the individual
circuit elements considered as lumped components and the effects of
nonidealities and the couplings modeled using additional parasitic
HolisticApproachesforPowerGeneration,Linearization,andRadiationinCMOS 3
Inductor B
V1 V1
E Capacitor
Figure1.3AclassicalRFICintegratedcircuit.
Transmission line Transmission line
Antenna
Figure1.4AstandardMMICoperatingathighfrequencies.
components. This allows for continuous application of long-known
circuit simulation techniques essentially based on nodal analysis
(Figure 1.3). Even in the realm of MMIC, the approach has been only
partiallyextendedbyanalyzingthenonlumpedblockssuchastransmis-
sion lines and on-chip antennas as separate units and representing them
asscatterparameterboxes(Figure1.4).
However, the ever-increasing complexity of wireless systems and
the associated integrated circuits combined with the constantly grow-
ing standards and frequency bands of operations have created strong
interconnections among these levels of abstractions. This is a
challenge if examined from the point of view of classical levels of
abstractions. It manifests itself as a cohort of problems such as cross
talk, electromagnetic coupling, impedance mismatches, parasitic ele-
ments, and others. This situation has been exacerbated by the scaling
4 LinearizationandEfficiencyEnhancementTechniquesforSiliconPowerAmplifiers
λt = v Conventional
ft circuits
Figure1.5Theconceptualplotofthecutoffwavelengthsandchipdimensionsversustime.
Figure1.6Highlyparallel,stronglycoupledholisticintegratedEMstructures.
of the transistors; the cutoff wavelength (the wavelength associated
with the cutoff frequency of the transistors) is constantly shrinking
and the dimensions of the integrated circuits have been growing, as
conceptually shown in Figure 1.5. This has resulted in a crossing of
the two curves (which happens approximately at the 250-nm CMOS
nodes), leaving us in a nonlumped regime.
However, if one is willing to look at the problem in a broader con-
text and not be confined by the classical levels of abstraction, then this
can present a tremendous opportunity to overcome some of the classi-
cal problems in RFIC design. This can be accomplished by using
a holistic approach to co-design of various parts of the system [1,2].
The holistic approach relies on a more close interaction of the electro-
magnetics and the transistors. It generally achieves this through a large
number of transistors and small passive structures with strong electro-
magnetic coupling operating in concert (Figure 1.6).
These structures can be used to enable simultaneous and active
control of the electric and magnetic field profiles (E and H), enabling
HolisticApproachesforPowerGeneration,Linearization,andRadiationinCMOS 5
a much richer combination of field profiles and a much broader set of
functions. This is an example of holistic integration of architecture, cir-
cuits, electromagnetics, and devices.
Although promising, such holistic approaches require the designers
to obtain a broader set of skills ranging from a more thorough
understanding of the system level matters to deeper device and
physics-oriented aspects of the system. However, once the walls
between classical levels of abstraction are removed, it becomes possible
to design circuits that can outperform the classical solutions. More
sophisticated approaches to simulation of these systems, which necessi-
tate rethinking of the whole design flow, are also necessary.
A holistic approach inevitably leads to several underlying trends in
the design methodology. Some of those trends are:
1. Parallelism: One of the most significant features of today’s
silicon integrated circuits is the practically unlimited number of
transistors they offer. As integrated circuits find their way into
every conceivable part of wireless systems, it becomes essential
to take full advantage of the large number of transistors. This
unlimited number of transistors, however, comes at the cost of
more limited power-handling capability of individual ones. This
makes electromagnetically parallel structures much more
compelling and a necessity in these approaches. This mindset
can be loosely stated as “the army of mice versus the giant
elephant.”
2. Concurrency: While related to parallelism at some level, concur-
rency in this context refers to various signal paths that process
potentially different pieces of information in parallel.
3. Highly reconfigurable, modifiable, and healable: To be able to
address various applications and take full advantage of the co-
integration at various levels of abstraction, highly reconfigurable
and dynamically modifiable systems are essential. In the presence of
a large number of elements involved, this reconfigurability must be
enhanced and automated, giving rise to so-called self-healing
systems. Such self-healing systems are highly conducive to holistic
approaches.
We discuss these themes through a few examples in the remainder
of this chapter.