Industry News

The Book End

The Design of CMOS Radio-frequency Integrated Circuits: Second Edition Thomas H. Lee Cambridge University Press • 815 pages; $80 ISBN: 0-521-83539-9 Since publication of the first edition of this book in 1998, RF CMOS has made a rapid transition to commercialization. Back then, the only notable examples of RF...
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A CMOS Frequency Synthesizer with Self-biasing Current Source for a 5 GHz Wireless LAN Receiver

This article describes a fully integrated 3.2 GHz synthesizer with a self-biasing current source for a 5 GHz wireless LAN receiver in the lower UNII band from 5.15 to 5.35 GHz. The circuit has been designed using a 0.18 mm one-poly six-metal CMOS techn...
In the past several years, the wireless local area network (WLAN) market has grown significantly due to the great demand for high speed wireless connectivity. Furthermore, there is a constant desire to keep power consumption, cost and size of the communication devices to a minimum. This has been possible...
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Design of a Novel Quad-band Microstrip BPF Using Quarter-wavelength Stepped-impedance Resonators

In this article, a new quad-band microstrip bandpass filter (BPF) is proposed. The BPF is composed of resonators whose first four resonant frequencies can be tuned to the desired passbands. Each resonator is formed by combining two unequal-size stepped...
Due to the increasing competition in the global wireless communication markets, many wireless terminals, such as mobile phones, personal dispatching assistants (PDA) and laptop computers, are being constructed to integrate more than one communication standard into the same apparatus. This allows the end-users to access different systems that provide...
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A Compact Microstrip Stepped-impedance Resonator and Filter

The resonant performance of T-shaped microstrip resonators, a kind of stepped-impedance resonator (SIR), is computed and analyzed. Two novel SRI filters, a double-T-shaped bandstop filter and a double-H-shaped bandpass filter, are designed and their pe...
Microstrip resonators have very important applications in microwave or millimeter-wave systems. They are important components of microstrip filters,1–2 microstrip oscillators3 and microstrip antennas,4 and enable microwave equipment miniaturization with improved performance. A stepped-impedance resonator (SIR) is the fundamental resonant element that can operate from RF to millimeter-wave frequencies and...
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A 40 to 900 MHz CMOS Broadband Differential LNA for a DTV RF Tuner

This article describes a 40 to 900 MHz CMOS broadband differential LNA with gain control for a DTV RF tuner application. The LNA is fabricated in a TSMC 0.18 µm CMOS process. The broadband differential LNA uses dual-feedback and shunt-shunt feedback to...
Digital TV offers a far wider choice of TV viewing and a reduction of the interference that may be experienced on analog TV. Recently, many RF circuits realized in the CMOS process have been reported and the 0.18 mm process is a good candidate for highly integrated systems-on-chip (SOC)...
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EM Enables Classic Filter Technique

Electromagnetic (EM) tools are indispensable for simulating high frequency designs, but they are poorly suited for synthesizing filters that require the determination of multiple parameters. Randall Rhea This article describes how to use EM simulation to aid a classic and under-utilized technique for filter design. The classic technique requires...
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Concept and Method of High Efficiency in a Precision Ka-band Subminiature Coaxial Connector

This article presents the design approach and test results of a Ka-band narrow flange receptacle (NFR), subminiature version A (SMA) connector based on transmission line theory, involving multi-step impedances and air-layer characteristics to increase ...
During the late 1950s and early 1960s, 7 mm coaxial transmission lines with standard SMA connectors were only used at frequencies between 10 and 12 GHz. In the mid-1960s, the US Department of Commerce established the Joint Industry Research Committee for the Standardization of Miniature Precision Coaxial Connectors (JIRF/SMPCC)....
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