RF Front-end High Performance Building Blocks Design Using SiGe Technology

In the modern digital wireless communications, digital data are modulated onto a RF carrier and transmitted to a receiver, which down-converts the RF carrier to base band for demodulation. This complex process makes a high demand on the noise, linearity, power performance of transceiver. Meanwhile, to achieve high data rate and relieve the spectrum resource, the operation frequency is entering the era of microwave/millimeter wave. This demand of performance requires the progress of technology. This paper analyzed the feasibility of RF front-end circuits design using SiGe technology, and verified with example.In the chapter I, this paper summarized the development of SiGe technology, and analyzed state of the art SiGe technology. Then this chapter analyzed mainstream architectures of transceiver, and feasibility of the key modules design using SiGe technology. With the comparison between the SiGe technology and the Si based, the other III-V technology, this paper make a deep analysis of the key performance in LNA, PA, etc.In the second chapter, we focused on the circuit design of these key modules on the basis of the analysis in chapter I. these design examples consisted of a 40GHz CML(current mode logic) frequency divider using SiGe technology. This example gave bandwidth optimization technique basing on Gummel-Poon SPICE module and the negative-resistance module of cross-coupled architecture. The second example is a 6GHz dual-modulus prescaler. The two circuit designs mentioned above were all implemented on 0.18um SiGe technology from JAZZ TOWER. Meanwhile, we also gave a low noise amplifier with thermal noise cancelling, and a 2.4GHz high linearity power amplifier with 22dBm output power, which were developed on the 0.13um SiGe technology from HHNEC. These examples almost covered the attentions of noise, linearity, and output power, etc, in the design of RF front-end.At last, in the third chapter, a conclusion of my researches on SiGe technology during achieving Master degree had been given, and a prospect of the SiGe technology in the future wireless communications application had been analyzed.