EM and substrate coupling in silicon RFICs

A quad‐band W‐CDMA transceiver IC–direct conversion architecture with fractional frequency divider

“…Regarding RFIC designs of highly integrated single‐chip multiband/multimode transceivers, unwanted signal coupling is one of the most significant issues. Typically, PAs and VGAs (which provide higher output power signals) deteriorate VCO operation owing to the modulated carrier coupling path via a chip‐mount substrate and the power supply and ground supply lines of the chip [31]. The signal coupling problem especially appears when a transceiver and a PA are closely mounted in a chip mount substrate.…”

Low-power RFIC design techniques for self-powered wireless CMOS circuits with integrated antennas

“…In order to produce what appears as a single output tone at UJQ, the oscillator must behave as an extremely high-Q band-pass filter with exceptionally high, but finite, pass-band gain. This response can be derived mathematically [8], [10], and demonstrated through simulation and measurement [13], [14]. Figure 2.4 summarizes the gain response of the oscillator when it is free running, where Qu is the quality factor of the unloaded tank circuit, F is the noise factor of the transconductor, k is Boltzmann's constant, T is the temperature in degrees Kelvin, and OJQ is the resonant frequency of the LC tank, i.e., UQ = 1/y/LC.…”

“…Previous research projects conducted by the author, [9], [13], successfully used oscillators as high-gain devices for the purpose of measuring and quantifying on-chip inductor coupling. Purely by accident, the author realized that the coupling levels were so strong that signals could be coupled from IC to IC, and not merely between inductors on the same die.…”

“…Purely by accident, the author realized that the coupling levels were so strong that signals could be coupled from IC to IC, and not merely between inductors on the same die. As the experimental chips in [9] and [13] where not designed to measure the coupling between separate dice, quantifying the chip to chip coupling was inaccurate, yet the experiments proved that on-chip inductors could serve as antennas and the qualitative results spurred the author towards his current research direction.…”

“…At this point, the oscillator is said to be "injection locked" to the tone at oui n j. This progression, from weak injection through to oscillator pulling, and eventually oscillator injection locking has been studied at some depth by the author and others, [53], [9], [8], [14], [13], [15], through simulation and measurement. In fact the intermodulation spurs on the opposite side of u> 0 are higher in amplitude, despite the low-side injection, and the overall spectrum is quite asymmetric.…”