I-Corps: Fully Integrated. Multi-Standard and Tunable Radios

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a technology that has potential applications in integrated circuits for the internet of things (IoT) as well as for military use. The applictions seeks to enable the design of a full radiofrequency transceiver (or components) that can be tuned across a wide frequency range to meet multiple wireless standards with a single reconfigurable design. This transceiver has the potential to reduce costs and increase markets. The proposed commercialization effort represents an opportunity to increase the reach of wireless technologies broadly while bolstering US growth in this crucial area. This I-Corps project is based on the development of a widely tunable and reconfigurable “on-chip” radio integrated circuit. The innovation that makes this possible is a novel tunable resonant element that can be fabricated on-chip. Wideband radio components that can accommodate a range of carrier frequencies do not enable high performance since they sacrifice gain, sensitivity, linearity, noise, and power efficiency to achieve functionality. Existing tunable narrowband solutions make similar tradeoffs due to the lack of a tunable inductive element that can be easily and cheaply integrated into a commercial process. The proposed technology may be used to construct tunable amplifiers, oscillators, and other basic analog components that are used in commercial radios. This team proposes to explore the market for reconfigurable radio frequency integrated circuits while developing a prototype system demonstrator for a full transceiver. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.