| The objective of this work was to design high-speed circuits using silicon-germanium (SiGe) heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) and complementary SiGe (C-SiGe) HBTs, as well as silicon (Si) complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices, for next-generation ultra-wideband (UWB) transceivers. The demand for wideband circuits is driven by many newly introduced military and commercial applications, such as shortrange high data rate communication systems, precision geolocation systems, intrusion detection radar, and software-defined radios. The advantages of using UWB systems over conventional narrowband transceivers include their lower power requirements, higher data rate, more efficient spectrum usage, precise positioning capability, lower complexity, and lower cost. The various components in a UWB system design include UWB communication channel and architecture design, UWB antenna design, and UWB transceiver integrated circuit (IC) implementation. The two major components in a UWB transceiver IC are the radio frequency (RF) circuit and the analog-to-digital converter (ADC). In this proposal, circuit-level solutions to improve the speed and performance of critical building blocks in both the RF front-end and the ADC are presented. Device-related issues affecting SiGe HBTs for potential applications in UWB systems intended for use in extreme environments will also be investigated.; Details of this dissertation can be found in the following refereed publications: (1) The design of 3-10 GHz UWB low noise amplifiers (LNAs) in both 120 GHz and 200 GHz SiGe HBT technologies (Chapter II, also published as [59]). (2) The design of an 8-bit 12 GSample/sec SiGe BiCMOS track-and-hold amplifier (THA) in 200 GHz SiGe HBT technology (Chapter III, also published as [72]). (3) The design of a 70 MHz-4.1 GHz fifth-order elliptic gm-C low-pass filter in C-SiGe HBT technology (Chapter IV, also published as [79]). (4) An investigation of proton radiation effects in third-generation SiGe HBTs (Chapter V, also published as [84]). |
