lab name
Reconfigurable Circuits and Systems for Concurrent Multi-Band RF Front-Ends

Project Summary

The total number of worldwide cell phone users surpassed the 5 billion mark in 2010 and annual global sales of cellular telephones is reaching 1.8 billion units, as of 2013. With mobile technology becoming almost ubiquitous and with the types of enriched features and services that are available to the end user, mobile devices are being required to support higher data rates. Unfortunately, this need for higher data rates is resulting in systems that are now required to support communication in many different, non-contiguous frequency bands spread between 400 MHz and 6 GHz.

To meet these needs many current mobile devices employ multiple, parallel, single-band RF front end systems, each tuned to operate in a specific frequency band. This approach is, ultimately, unsustainable ss new wireless standards continue to be introduced. This project focuses on the development of highly reconfigurable RF circuits for use in multi-band, multi-mode wireless communication systems with particular emphasis on the low-noise and power amplifiers.

Problem Statement

There are four primary metrics of interest in RF systems: gain, linearity, noise figure, and efficiency. Depending upon the type of system being designed, the priority of these metrics may change. The primary challenge in trying to replace multiple, parallel systems with a single, reconfigurable system lies in achieving similar performance in these four performance metrics while still reducing overall size and routing complexity.

Research Goals

This research looks at circuits at the antenna interface in both receivers and transmitters. The long-term goals of this project are therefore divided:

Project Support

This project has been made possible by the generous support of:

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