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

未来的移动的通信技术期望通过宽带接入信道提供各种各样的服务、高质量音频、高清晰度视频和快速响应控制数据。未来的系统将获得多媒体能力，并将促进高速无线局域网（W-LAN）和家庭广播网络的使用，以取代传统的架构。这些系统的设计将满足用户对宽带无线通信的需求，并将推动新的微波和毫米波器件和电路的发展。模拟和数字传输的可能的家庭应用场景将需要非常紧凑、低成本和高效率的接收/发送设备，这些设备可以提供从家庭服务器到各种电器的非对称数据传输，以实现高质量的操作和控制。 针对上述技术需求，本项目提出了一种新型的射频前端接收机架构，该架构功耗极低，高度紧凑，成本极低，性能极高。所提出的架构基于SOI上的CMOS实现电路的射频和数字部分，并允许电路与射频滤波器和天线结构的紧密集成。新的接收器架构将基于使用超材料基板来开发高度集成的滤波器组，将依赖于垂直集成来开发高度紧凑的三维无线前端，将具有与高选择性多频基板紧密集成的新型天线结构，并具有新型混合信号数字IF电路。接收器的设计将通过整体混合电路方法来完成，该方法准确地考虑了高频效应，包括色散、辐射和电磁耦合。在实现上述设想时遇到的建模和仿真问题对于混合信号RFIC是典型的。 建议的技术方法代表了一个更广泛的问题的解决方案，并有可能减轻在模拟/RF/封装接口的设计瓶颈。密歇根大学将使用自己的制造设施与IBM蓝逻辑Cu-11 CMOS SOI 0.11米设施一起开发拟议的接收机。北卡罗来纳州州立大学将提供接收机设计所需的建模和模拟。 一个原型的4通道5- 10 GHz的接收机将模拟，设计，制造，封装和测试过程中，这项工作。此外，16通道甚高Q电磁带隙滤波器组将被设计、制造和测试。此外，还将研究制造公差、温度效应、滤波器调谐和频率缩放等主题。拟议的工作将与IBM高性能逻辑开发和RF技术开发密切合作。两所大学的研究生和本科生研究员将执行研究任务。其中一些学生可能会在IBM实习，以促进合作，并借此机会与IBM科学家互动。此外，这项工作的研究成果，在混合信号电路架构的设计方面，将成为一个新的高级/研究生水平的高频电路课程的基础。将特别努力通过密歇根大学UROP（本科生研究机会）和玛丽亚萨拉帕克方案吸引代表性不足的学生，这些方案专门为本科生和研究生女生和少数民族学生提供研究经验。这些努力的结果将通过在科学杂志上发表文章和/或在技术会议上介绍情况以及建立一个互动网站来广泛传播。

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 qualityoperation 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 attractingunderrepresented 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.