Architectures for mobile RF convergence and future RF transparency
Feb 1, 2006
By Pieter Hooijmans As mobile portable devices such as cell phones, PDAs and laptop computers
acquire multimode, multiband wireless connectivity, there is an ever-increasing
need for greater levels of RF integration. Space, cost and power consumption
constraints will no longer make it viable to have a separate wireless transceiver
for each communication mode....
Next-generation wireless propels GaN power transistors, CMOS RFICs and passives
Jan 1, 2006
By Ashok Bindra, editorial director; Mark Valentine, technical editor; and Keith Vick, technical contributor This special report focuses on the latest advances in gallium nitride (GaN) power
transistors for microwave and millimeter-wave applications, CMOS RFICs and
passive components....
Integrating power management on RF chips
Nov 1, 2005
Ashok Bindra, Editorial Director Power supplies are part and parcel of electronic circuits and are needed in a variety of forms to drive these circuits. Some familiar terms include dc-dc...
Multi-GHz CMOS technology delivers new level of RF integration
Oct 1, 2005
By Fleming Lam, Mark Burgener and Ron Reedy Wireless systems of all types commercial, military and space have evolved in recent years to increased system complexity at ever more stringent power...
Silicon TV tuners poised to replace cans
Oct 1, 2005
By Alvin Wong and Jordan Du Val While the evolution of TV receivers has accelerated on many fronts in the last
decade, fully integrated silicon tuner design has lagged behind this evolutionary
wave. The silicon TV tuner is now perfected and will rapidly replace traditional
can tuners, just as transistors replaced vacuum tubes during the mid-1960s....
Integrating Microcontroller and RF Functions On-Chip for Wireless Out-of-Box Experience
Oct 1, 2005
By Deepak Sharma and Ryan Woodings This article focuses on the integration
of Bluetooth, wirelessUSB, and Zigbee radios into eight-bit microcontrollers and
mixed-signal arrays to create low-power, low-cost, single-chip wireless solutions
that enable interdevice communication without the need for cables....
Monolithic multimode RF transceiver chip is a reality
Sep 1, 2005
Ashok Bindra, Editorial Director Advances in CMOS and biCMOS technologies has enabled RFIC suppliers like Infineon Technologies and Silicon Laboratories to develop single-chip multiband...
Bringing long-range UHF RFID tags into mainstream supply chain applications
Jul 1, 2005
By Rob Glidden and John Schroeter The availability of inexpensive CMOS technologies that perform well at ultra-high frequencies has created new opportunities for automated material handling within supply chain management that will, in hindsight, be viewed as revolutionary....
Comparing active Gilbert mixers integrated in standard SiGe process (Part II)
Jun 1, 2005
By N. Rodríguez, E. Hernández, G. Bistué, I. Gutiérrez, J. Presa and R. Berengue The mixers presented here have been designed to downconvert an 8 MHz bandwidth signal from RF (1800 MHz) to an intermediate frequency (IF) of 40 MHz....
Direct digitization using superconducting data converters
Mar 1, 2005
By Jack Rosa Direct digitization is the ultimate enabler for future wireless communications. It
refers to the ability to bring the digital domain as close to the antenna as possible, on both the receive and transmit ends of the radio transceiver system. It's a goal that remains just out of reach for systems based on traditional semiconductor technology and conventional data converters. Through the use of superconducting microelectronics technology and new, high-performing analogto-digital and digital-to-analog converters, however, direct digitization is firmly in reach....
Wafer-scale integration brings low cost and a small footprint to active antenna arrays
Feb 1, 2005
By Fred Mohamadi Fabricating a 256-element steerable antenna array on an eight-inch wafer is
quite a feat, given the multitude of issues—steering the antenna, optimizing the
RF paths and the like. By addressing these and other matters, one at a time, it
becomes clear that realization is well within reach....
GSM/GPRS quad band power amp includes antenna switch
Nov 1, 2004
Combining gallium arsenide (GaAs) power amplifier circuit with integrated passive devices (IPDs) and microvia high-density interconnect (HDI) technology,...
