ABOUT THE COURSE:An open elective on radio-frequency integrated circuits aimed at giving students an exposure to state-of-the-art radio frequency interfaces in integrated circuit-based receivers taking into consideration the communication protocols and their impact on the circuit performance due to niche limitations and advantages of integrated circuits. The course is envisaged to be primarily project based where the student will be required perform simulation assignments using industry-standard design kits (where-ever applicable) for each relevant moduleINTENDED AUDIENCE: 3rd and final year UG and PGPREREQUISITES: Basic Analog CircuitsINDUSTRY SUPPORT: Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, NXP, Apple + All wireless chip design companies

Syllabus

Week 1:Communication concepts for RF
Introduction to wireless communication protocols like ASK, PSK, GPSK, QAM, OFDM. Constellation diagram and their impact on the RF transmission.
Week 2:RF metrics of importance
Metrics of importance in RF design, and its distinction and similarities with respect to classical analog metrics on noise, distortion and matching. Importance of passives in RF design and the corresponding limitations in an integrated circuit implementation. Introduction to transmission lines and their effect on IC design as compared to lumped elements.
Week 3&4:Modelling of RF chain
Overview and modelling of wireless receiver and transmitter architectures using ideal elements taking into consideration out-of-band blockers/emissions and noise. Introduction to Super-heterodyne receiver and a homodyne receiver and their trade-offs
Week 5&6:Low Noise Amplifier
Low noise amplifier (LNA) design specifications from the communication protocols. Noise figure optimization. Review of state-of-the art architectures for narrowband and wideband LNAs.
Week 7&8:LPTV networks / mixers and filtering
Introduction to design of LPTV networks and evolution of Mixers as a special case. Introduction to N-path filters, their efficacy in high-Q filtering. Noise in mixers. Zadeh approximation to analyse LPTV networks,
Week 9&10:Oscillators and PLL
VCO and Oscillators: VCO fundamentals and basic principles. Feedback view of Oscillators. Modelling of phase-noise and its effect on the RF- chain. Importance of PLL and the effect of drift of center frequency between the transmitter and the receiver.
Week 11&12:Power Amplifier DesignDistinction between voltage and power amplification. Trade-offs between gain, efficiency and linearity. Introduction to stability of a power amplifier. Review of types of PA architectures and their use-cases.