CAREER: Analog-Assisted Transceivers for Next-Generation Millimeter-Wave Systems

职业：用于下一代毫米波系统的模拟辅助收发器

• 批准号: 1846507
• 负责人: Taylor Barton
• 金额: $ 50万
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Boulder
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-02-01 至 2025-01-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1846507&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Analog; Assisted; Transceivers; Next

Driven by the need for increased radio spectral access, commercial and national security systems are increasingly moving to millimeter-wave carrier frequencies. In addition to reducing physical size and weight, this frequency scaling is beneficial because it enables higher-bandwidth signals which, in turn, produce higher data rates. At the system level, however, frequency scaling is problematic because of the digital signal processing elements used in the majority of radio systems to generate and operate on signals. As the signal bandwidth is increased, the clock rate required for digital signal processing is also increased, leading to more power consumption and performance degradation. Successfully expanding to millimeter-wave frequencies therefore requires novel radio architectures with alternative solutions for broadband signal processing. To address this issue, the project investigates both linear and nonlinear analog techniques, operating in the millimeter-wave circuit domain, to substantially improve the signal processing of next-generation wireless systems. The resulting analog-assisted architectures will address the needs in areas where high-performance wireless systems are critical, such as communications, internet of things, autonomous vehicles, and healthcare applications. These technologies will be incorporated into the principal investigator's educational goals as modules with focus on experimentation with radios, with topics ranging from system to component level. The principal investigator will partner with established pre-collegiate and pre-engineering programs at the University of Colorado Boulder as a way to engage underrepresented and first-generation college students in engineering.The goal of this research is to systematically investigate the application of analog signal processing and classical control techniques to wideband millimeter-wave (mm-wave) systems employing wide-bandgap device technologies. Fundamental principles of scaling indicate that analog techniques become increasingly attractive in mm-wave systems due to the relatively low fractional bandwidths at high carrier frequencies even when instantaneous bandwidths increase dramatically. Techniques from analog circuit design and classical control theory will therefore be leveraged as a way to compensate for digital-domain bandwidth limitations. An architecture study is proposed to analyze the impact of the digital / radio-frequency (RF) domain boundary on power consumption, complexity, and size when bandwidth and power are prime resources. A specific focus will be the nonlinear analysis of load-modulated power amplifiers as a targeted driver of this digital / RF interface design in efficiency-enhanced transmitters. Realizing analog-assisted architectures will, in turn, require novel supporting circuits at the component level. To this end, the research will develop analog and mixed-mode circuits in GaN technology, leveraging its high transconductance and transition frequency. Proposed techniques include integrated low-frequency control paths for, e.g., bias-based gain correction, and developing fundamental building blocks for signal generation and control. To validate the design methodologies developed in this work, the demonstration of these technologies will be a novel wideband transceiver with built-in linearity correction. Through this research project, the performance of linear and efficient wideband mm-wave systems will be substantially improved, enabling new and innovative uses of the electromagnetic spectrum.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.

在增加无线电频谱接入需求的推动下，商业和国家安全系统越来越多地转向毫米波载波频率。除了减小物理尺寸和重量之外，这种频率缩放也是有益的，因为它可以实现更高带宽的信号，从而产生更高的数据速率。然而，在系统层面，频率缩放是有问题的，因为大多数无线电系统中使用数字信号处理元件来生成和操作信号。随着信号带宽的增加，数字信号处理所需的时钟速率也增加，导致更多的功耗和性能下降。因此，成功扩展到毫米波频率需要新颖的无线电架构以及宽带信号处理的替代解决方案。为了解决这个问题，该项目研究了在毫米波电路领域运行的线性和非线性模拟技术，以大幅改进下一代无线系统的信号处理。由此产生的模拟辅助架构将满足高性能无线系统至关重要的领域的需求，例如通信、物联网、自动驾驶汽车和医疗保健应用。这些技术将作为模块纳入首席研究员的教育目标，重点是无线电实验，主题涵盖从系统到组件级别。首席研究员将与科罗拉多大学博尔德分校已建立的大学预科和工程预科项目合作，吸引代表性不足的第一代大学生参与工程学。这项研究的目标是系统地研究模拟信号处理和经典控制技术在采用宽带隙器件技术的宽带毫米波 (mm-wave) 系统中的应用。缩放的基本原理表明，即使瞬时带宽急剧增加，由于高载波频率下的分数带宽相对较低，模拟技术在毫米波系统中变得越来越有吸引力。因此，将利用模拟电路设计和经典控制理论的技术来补偿数字域带宽限制。提出了一项架构研究，以分析当带宽和功率为主要资源时，数字/射频 (RF) 域边界对功耗、复杂性和尺寸的影响。具体重点是负载调制功率放大器的非线性分析，作为效率增强型发射机中数字/射频接口设计的目标驱动器。反过来，实现模拟辅助架构将需要元件级的新颖支持电路。为此，该研究将利用 GaN 技术开发模拟和混合模式电路，利用其高跨导和过渡频率。提出的技术包括用于基于偏置的增益校正等的集成低频控制路径，以及开发用于信号生成和控制的基本构建块。为了验证这项工作中开发的设计方法，这些技术的演示将是一种具有内置线性校正的新型宽带收发器。通过该研究项目，线性高效宽带毫米波系统的性能将得到大幅提高，从而实现电磁频谱的新的和创新的用途。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

A Baseband Feedback Approach to Linearization of a UHF Power Amplifier

超高频功率放大器线性化的基带反馈方法

• DOI: 10.1109/mwsym.2019.8700736
• 发表时间: 2019
• 期刊: IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium
• 作者: Sear, William;Barton, Taylor W.
• 通讯作者: Barton, Taylor W.

Wideband IMD3 suppression through negative baseband impedance synthesis

• DOI: 10.1049/mia2.12075
• 发表时间: 2021-03
• 期刊: IET Microwaves, Antennas & Propagation
• 作者: William Sear;T. Barton

Load-Modulating Loop Combiner for Linear Power Amplification

用于线性功率放大的负载调制环路组合器

• DOI: 10.1109/lmwc.2022.3211162
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters
• 影响因子: 3
• 作者: Sear, William;Barton, Taylor W.
• 通讯作者: Barton, Taylor W.

An Inter-Stage Filter Network for Distortion Reduction in Concurrent Dual-Band Power Amplifier Operation

• DOI: 10.23919/apmc55665.2022.9999722
• 发表时间: 2022-11
• 期刊: 2022 Asia-Pacific Microwave Conference (APMC)
• 作者: William Sear;Nathan Biesterfeld;Saraunsh Bayaskar;T. Barton

Bias and Bias Line Effects on Wideband RF Power Amplifier Performance

偏置和偏置线对宽带射频功率放大器性能的影响

• DOI: 10.1109/wamicon53991.2022.9786174
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: IEEE Wireless and Microwave Technology Conference
• 作者: Sear, William;Donahue, Devon T.;Pirrone, Michelle;Barton, Taylor W.
• 通讯作者: Barton, Taylor W.