RF ICs

We are entering a new age of ubiquitous wireless connectivity. The number of digital wireless subscribers is now over 500 million worldwide. Wireless networks like Bluetooth and WiFi - 802.11 seek to connect not only our cellphones, but also our laptops, PDA's, and even our home appliances. Inside each of these devices will be a wireless transceiver in integrated circuit form, a Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC).

There are many challenges involved in creating RFIC's. At the transistor level, various competing technologies (GaAs, Si, SiGe, and CMOS) each provide different benefits and drawbacks. Aside from the transistors, the creation of passive devices such as inductors, capacitors, and resistors also pose unique challenges to the IC designer. To create the amplifiers, mixers, and oscillators required in all wireless transceivers, RFIC designers must use clever circuit techniques to boost performance. These wireless "building blocks" can then be connected in different system architectures to achieve the required performance. The goal is to have a single radio-on-a-chip that need only to be connected to an antenna, output device, and a battery.

RFIC research group is investigating solutions to many of the challenges presented above. Our research group is led by IEEE Fellow Dr. J.W. Haslett. The team currently consists of 4 Ph.D. candidates, 5 M.Sc. candidates, 1 M.Eng. candidate, and 2 post doctoral fellows. We also work with Dr. J. McRory who is both an Adjunct Professor with the University of Calgary and the Chief RF Scientist at TRLabs.

Some of our past and present work includes:

  • Developing solutions in state-of-the-art GaAs, CMOS, and SiGe technologies.
  • Circuit techniques for improved passive device performance.
  • SiGe RFIC circuits for 4th generation wireless networks.
  • Novel Voltage Controlled Oscillators with improved phase noise.
  • CMOS RF low phase noise VCO's and their application in wireless transceiver design.
  • Recursive Cellular Nonlinear Neural Networks for ultra low-noise digital arithmetic.
  • RF and IF digitization circuits for radio receivers.
  • Switched-mode power amplifier linearization.
  • RF Integrated Circuit Design of a 10 GHz wireless LAN.
  • Q-Enhanced 2.44 GHz bandpass filter.
  • RF bipolar logarithmic amplifiers and Hilbert transformers for optical fiber communications applications.
  • Low voltage high linearity precision CMOS variable gain amplifier for baseband applications.
  • Design of high performance phase-locked loops (PLLs) for wireless LAN applications.
  • Creating innovative new structures for integrated capacitors and inductors.
  • A tuneable, active inductor in both GaAs and CMOS implementations.
  • Analog signal processing circuits for smart antenna systems.