Electronics for Telecommunications systems

Academic Year 2021/2022 - 1° Year - Curriculum Communication Tecnologies and Systems

Learning Objectives

• Fundamentals of analog electronics

  Knowledge and understanding

  The module aims at improving the basic knowledge on electronic devices and analog circuits in CMOS and Bipolar technologies for a better understanding of "Electronics for Telecommunications" module. Topics related to integrated reactive passive components and their use in radio frequency (RF) circuits will also be addressed. Finally, some hints will be given to the back-end of integration technologies and to the main guidelines in defining the layout of RF circuits.

  Applying knowledge and understanding

  At the end of the module the student will have the necessary knowledge to understand the "Electronics for Telecommunications" module and an overview of fundamental technological aspects for RF circuits and will be able to design integrated inductive components.

  Making judgements

  The student will be able to design simple analog circuits and integrated inductive components by autonomously making the appropriate design choices.

  Communication skills

  The student will begin to acquire the technical language of RF circuit electronics. The oral exam will allow students to refine their technical language and communication skills.

  Learning skills

  The student will be able to autonomously expand their knowledge by deepening the recommended texts.

• Mod. Electronics for Telecommunications

  The course of Electronics for Telecommunications deals with architectural and circuital solutions of the radio frequency (RF) front-ends for the wireless communication systems, which are based on modern integration silicon VLSI technologies. The course aims at providing the knowledge of the main RF front-end architectures and of the electronic techniques for the most critical aspects of the RF processing, which are the high frequency, the high gain, the low noise and the high linearity.
  At the end of the course, the student will acquire:

  Knowledge and understanding

  Knowledge of how a modern transceiver for the most widespread wireless telecommunication applications, such as mobile handsets, WLAN, WSN, Bluetooth, etc., is made and how it works, and how it is interfaced with the antenna on one side and with sensors and actuators on the other.

  Applying knowledge and understanding

  Capacity of designing of the main RF processing building blocks (LNA, oscillator, PLL, etc.) thanks to the acquisition of the circuit topologies and their relative design equations;

  Making judgements

  Capacity of managing and completing the knowelege on the RF front-end architectures and electronic design techniques for their implementation, being able, thanks to the course, to understand the specialized literature on the topics dealt with;

  Communication skills

  Capacity to comunicate and describe the acquired skills on the RF front-end electronics for wireless communications, their relative subsystems and basic bulding blocks, and the VLSI technologies useful for their physical implementation;

  Learning skills

  Capacity of autonomously deepening the knowledge of the radio system electronics.

Course Structure

• Fundamentals of analog electronics

  The course includes lectures with some exercises aimed at putting into practice, consolidating and expanding the theoretical contents.

  Should teaching be carried out in mixed mode or remotely, it may be necessary to introduce changes with respect to previous statements, in line with the programme planned and outlined in the syllabus.

• Mod. Electronics for Telecommunications

  The course is mainly based on lectures that will be recorded in both audio and written form and made available for students in the same day. Whether teaching should be carried out in mixed mode or remotely, it could be necessary to introduce changes with respect to previous statements, in line with the program planned and outlined in the syllabus.

Detailed Course Content

• Fundamentals of analog electronics

  Bipolar transistors: Basics of bipolar transistor and equivalent model for small signal in direct active region.

  Differential stage in bipolar and MOS technologies with resistive load: large signal relationship and gain.

  Current mirrors: Simple current mirror in bipolar and MOS technologies. Bipolar mirror with current recovery. MOS cascode current mirror. Hints on the layout of a current mirror.

  Cascode stage with resistive load in bipolar and CMOS technologies: gain, impedances, output dynamics.

  Integrated reactive passive components: use, implementation on silicon, self-resonance, losses and quality factor, design of integrated inductors and transformers. Use of the resonant load and advantages in comparison with the resistive load.

  BEOL of RF technologies and layout of RF circuits: characteristics of metal layers (materials, thicknesses), distributed model of a connection, main guidelines in defining the layout of RF circuits.

  EM 2D simulators: introduction to the electromagnetic (EM) 2D Momentum simulator by Keysight Technologies.

• Mod. Electronics for Telecommunications

  PROGRAM OF THE COURSE

  WIRELES COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS: antenna, radio front-end, base-band analog front-end, digital signal processing (DSP), analog front-end for sensors and actuators.

  PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS OF AN RF FRONT-END: sensitivity, operating frequency, voltage and power gain, noise figure, linearity parameters, phase noise, efficiency.

  TRANSISTOR NOISE: noise sources of BJT and MOS transistors, noise voltage and current, signal to noise ratio, noise figure.

  IMPEDANCE TRANSFORMATION AND MATCHING: the impedance transformation problem, propierties of reactive networks, impedance matching, impedance matching performance parameters.

  FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING BLOCKS OF THE RF PROCESSING: low noise amplifier (LNA), simple and quadrature mixer, image rejection mixer, variable-gain amplifier (VGA), intermediate frequency (IF) amplifier, phase networks, power amplifier (notes).

  PHASE LOCKED LOOP (PLL): performance parameters (operating frequency, tuning range, phase noise, spurious rejection, stability). PLL building blocks: reference oscillator, phase frequency detector (PFD), charge pump (CP), loop filter, voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), frequency divider, PLL applications in the RF transceivers.

  ARCHITECTURES OF RF FRONT-ENDS: superheterodyne conversion, homodyne conversion, low-IF conversion, sliding IF conversion.

Textbook Information

• Fundamentals of analog electronics
  1. Sedra - Smith, Microelettronic circuits, Oxford Univerity press.
  2. B. Razavi, “RF Microelectronics”, Ed. Theodore S. R., Prentice Hall.
  3. A. Scuderi, E. Ragonese, T. Biondi, G. Palmisano, "Integrated inductors and transformers: characterization, design and modeling for RF and mm-wave applications," CRC Press - Taylor & Francis Group, Nov. 2010.
• Mod. Electronics for Telecommunications

  1. B. Razavi, “RF Microelectronics”, Ed. Theodore S. R., Prentice Hall.

  Teaching materials
  1. Course notes;
  2. Recorded lessons.

  https://www.dropbox.com/sh/aogq5l1i8ly1cxj/AAD3AufUgRSFms4HEndW4dNya?dl=0