Research for Mixed Signal Electronic Technologies: A Joint Initiative Between NSF and SRC: Novel RF Front-Ends For Future Mobile Communication Systems

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

Future mobile communications technologies are expected to provide a wide variety of services, high-quality audio, high-definition video and quick response control data, through wide-band access channels. Future systems will acquire multimedia capability and will facilitate the use of high-speed wireless local area networks (W-LAN) and Home Broadcasting networks in place of traditional architectures. These systems will be designed to address user demands for broadband wireless communications and will drive the development of new microwave and mm-wave devices and circuits. Possible in-home application scenarios for both analog and digital transmission will require very compact, low-cost and high efficiency receive/transmit devices that can provide asymmetric data transmission from a home server to various appliances for quality operation and control. In response to the above technology needs, this program proposes to develop a novel RF front-end receiver architecture that consumes very little power, is highly compact, very low-cost and high-performance. The proposed architecture is based on a CMOS on SOI implementation for both the RF and digital parts of the circuit and allows for an intimate integration of the circuit with the RF filters and antenna structure. The new receiver architecture will be based on the use of metamaterial substrates for the development of highly integrated filter banks, will rely on vertical integration for the development of highly compact three-dimensional wireless front ends, will have a novel antenna structure intimately integrated with the highly selective multi-frequency substrate and have a novel mixed signal digital IF circuitry. The design of the receiver will be accomplished through a holistic mixed circuit approach that accurately takes into account high frequency effects including dispersion, radiation and electromagnetic coupling. The modeling and simulation problem encountered in the implementation of the above vision is typical to mixed-signal RFICs. The proposed technical approach represents a solution to the broader problem and has the potential to alleviate the design bottleneck at the analog/RF/ package interface. The University of Michigan will use its own fabrication facilities together with the IBM Blue Logic Cu-11 CMOS on SOI 0.11m facilities to develop the proposed receiver. North Carolina State University will provide modeling and simulations necessary for the design of the receiver. A prototype 4-channel 5-10GHz receiver will be simulated, designed, fabricated, packaged and tested during the course of this work. In addition, 16-channel very high-Q electromagnetic bandgap filter bank will be designed, fabricated and tested. Moreover, topics such as manufacturing tolerance, temperature effects, filter tuning and frequency scaling will be studied. The proposed work will be performed in close collaboration with IBM High performance logic development and RF Technology development. Graduate and undergraduate student research investigators in both Universities will execute the research tasks. A number of these students may spend part of their summer at IBM on internships to facilitate the collaboration and take the opportunity to interact with IBM scientists. Furthermore, the research outcomes of this effort, in terms of the design of the mixed-signal circuit architectures, will become the basis of a new senior/graduate-level course in high frequency circuits. Special effort will be placed in attracting underrepresented students through the University of Michigan UROP (Undergraduate Research Opportunities) and Maria Sara Parker Programs specifically designed to provide research experiences to undergraduate and graduate female and minority students. The results of these efforts will be disseminated broadly via publications in scientific journal and/or presentations in technical conferences and the development of an interactive web site.