Papers by Antonio Liscidini
IEEE Open Journal of the Solid-State Circuits Society
A power-scalable RF front-end using quantized analog signal processing is presented. The front-en... more A power-scalable RF front-end using quantized analog signal processing is presented. The front-end is based on a voltage-mode power-scalable approach which allows the power dissipation to be scaled upon the operative scenario and to perform an agile calibration for mismatch impairments. Power and input dynamic range can be scaled upon the desired 1-dB compression point (1dBCP) (from −15.3 to 0.5 dBm) while keeping the same sensitivity with 2.5-dB NF. Signal path power can vary between 3.3 and 6.4 mW while clock generation and distribution power can vary between 1.6 and 18.5 mW/GHz, with a phase noise as low as −171.2 dBc/Hz. After calibration, IM2 and IM3 improved up to 33 dB while 1dBCP improved by 1 dB, which resulted in achieving an IIP3 of 26.1 dBm and IIP2 of 71 dBm at 0-dBm 1dBCP. INDEX TERMS Digital calibration, dynamic range (DR), high linearity, low power, nonuniform quantization, power scalable, quantized analog (QA), surface acoustic wave (SAW)-less, voltage-mode. I. INTRODUCTION T HE REMOVAL of surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters on the modern RF front-end has become a popular trend to reduce the overall cost and save precious realestate on the device [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6]. However, lack of high-Q filters demands high dynamic range (DR) from the RF front-end as well as requiring low noise floor even when large blockers are present (which generally is the case for SAW-less receivers). Large power consumption in both signal and local oscillator (LO) paths are needed to meet these stringent requirements. In modern RF front-ends, the gain in the signal path is limited by using the current-mode approach to increase input 1-dB compression point (1dBCP). This solution however requires a transimpedance amplifier (TIA) in the baseband, whose power can grow significantly when low input-referred noise and high compression point are demanded. In the LO path, the phase noise (PN) must be limited to reduce the impact of reciprocal mixing when large blockers are present. This can only be achieved by increasing the clock buffer sizes and consume significantly more power (e.g., 33 mW/GHz to get a PN as low as −170 dBc/Hz [7]). A. STATE-OF-THE-ART SAW-LESS RF RECEIVERS REVIEW Voltage-mode circuits have been widely implemented in RF front-end in the past. However, after the introduction of current passive mixers, which are technology-scaling friendly and are more compatible with modern low-voltage supplies [8], current-mode approaches have become the de-facto standard, especially in SAW-less applications. As mentioned previously, one of the major advantages of using the currentmode approach is minimization of the output swing which, in turn, increases the upper limit of the DR. Nevertheless, current-mode front-ends need power hungry TIAs with stringent noise requirements due to the inherent lack of RF gain in front of them. Fig. 2 provides state-of-the-art RF receivers as well as an overview of their performance and power dissipation breakdown (power consumption is reported for a common operative carrier at 2 GHz). While the majority of
IEEE Open Journal of Circuits and Systems, 2022
This work was supported in part by Analog Devices Canada and in part by the Natural Sciences and ... more This work was supported in part by Analog Devices Canada and in part by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada.
IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine, 2014
This index covers all technical items-papers, correspondence, reviews, etc.-that appeared in this... more This index covers all technical items-papers, correspondence, reviews, etc.-that appeared in this periodical during 2014, and items from previous years that were commented upon or corrected in 2014. Departments and other items may also be covered if they have been judged to have archival value. The Author Index contains the primary entry for each item, listed under the first author's name. The primary entry includes the coauthors' names, the title of the paper or other item, and its location, specified by the publication abbreviation, year, month, and inclusive pagination. The Subject Index contains entries describing the item under all appropriate subject headings, plus the first author's name, the publication abbreviation, month, and year, and inclusive pages. Note that the item title is found only under the primary entry in the Author Index.
F4: Wireless low-power transceivers for local and wide-area networks
2017 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), 2017
An overview and comparison is provided of the different emerging wireless standards and their cir... more An overview and comparison is provided of the different emerging wireless standards and their circuit solutions, which target low data-rate IoT applications, featuring ultra-low-power and/or long-range. Different RF transceiver implementations are presented, including proprietary solutions in license-free spectrum, WLAN-based IEEE802.11ah solutions and mobile operators' alternatives based on emerging long-term evolution (LTEM) standards. The different approaches coming to the market and their circuit design aspects will be discussed.
Analysis and Design of Configurable LNAs in
A unified description of multiple feedback common- gate low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) is presented,... more A unified description of multiple feedback common- gate low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) is presented, providing analyt- ical expressions for gain, noise figure, linearity, and stability con- ditions. Moreover, from the theory, a new methodology for LNA optimization is developed. This new approach, called adaptive op- timization, uses the ability to reconfigure the feedback network to match the amplifier characteristics to the changing working condi- tions. Results of simulation of LNAs with different feedback types are shown, and they confirm the theory presented. Index Terms—Common gate, feedback amplifier, high linearity, low-noise amplifier (LNA), multiband, multistandard, negative feedback, positive feedback, reconfigurability.
2018 IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference (CICC), 2018
This paper presents a class-AB sub-GHz RF receiver front-end suitable for ultra-low power applica... more This paper presents a class-AB sub-GHz RF receiver front-end suitable for ultra-low power application. By exploiting transistors' class-AB operation in both the RF and baseband sections, the receiver front-end achieves a very low sensitivity and an elevated blocker tolerance while keeping a low power consumption. Such performance makes the receiver suitable for both short-range (e.g. 802.15.4) and long-range (e.g. LoRa) applications. The proposed RF front-end has been implemented in 0.13um CMOS technology, operates in the 868/915MHz ISM bands, and exhibits an in-band gain of 50dB, noise figure of 2.7dB, out-of-band HP3 of +2dBm, out-of-band IIP2 of +37dBm, out-of-band P1dB of −10.5dBm, while draining 2.1mA from a 1.2 V supply.
IEEE Open Journal of the Solid-State Circuits Society, 2021
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Papers by Antonio Liscidini