RF IC Design (January 2025)

• Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuits
• Semester Offered: 2nd semester
• Course Credit: Lecture: 3 units

Catalog Description

EE229: Introduction to RF and wireless technology. Characteristics of passive devices at RF. High-frequency amplifier design. Analysis of distortion in amplifiers. Low-noise amplifiers and mixers. Oscillators. Frequency synthesizers. Power amplifiers. Phased-locked loops. Modulators and demodulators. Transceiver architectures. Prereq: EE 220. 3 u.

Course Information

• Instructor: Louis P. Alarcon (louis.alarcon@eee...)
• Schedule: Tuesdays, 7am - 10am
• Venue: EEEI 120 and via Zoom
  • Zoom link
  • Meeting ID: 955 0973 0919
  • Passcode: 14953304

Announcements

• 1/21: Welcome to EE229! This class will be broadcast via Zoom and is available to all Philippine companies and universities as part of the CIDR program.
• 1/21: Our first lecture will be on 1/28. Zoom details to follow.
• 1/21: Here is the Zoom link.
• 2/13: Activity 1 is now available (Due Friday, 2/21, 5pm)
  • Submit your Google Colab (Jupyter Notebook) *.ipynb file here.
  • Please name your file LastName_FirstName_EE229_Activity01.ipynb.
• 3/02: Activity 2 is now available (Due Friday, 3/14, 5pm)
  • Submit your Google Colab (Jupyter Notebook) *.ipynb file here.
  • Please name your file LastName_FirstName_EE229_Activity02.ipynb.
• 3/24: Due to the impending transport strike, our class on Tue, 3/25, will be via Zoom.
• 3/24: Update: Due to a last-minute scheduling conflict, our class on Tue, 3/25 is cancelled. Apologies for the very short notice.
• 3/31: No class on Tue, 4/01 (Eidul-Fitar).

Class Schedule

Week	Date	Topic	Resources
Basic Concepts in RF Design
1	1/28	Introduction to EE229 Challenges in RF Design The Big Picture General Considerations	Lecture 1 (pdf, video) Fun with NGSPICE, Python, and Google Colab (Try it out!) Series LC circuit frequency response Skywater 130nm NMOS LVT transistor characteristics
2	2/4	Two-Port Networks Passive Matching Networks (1)	Lecture 2 (pdf, video) (Updated 2/10) Example: Simple L-Match calculation and simulation Download and/or make a copy, then feel free to edit and experiment! Notes: Resonance Passive Matching Networks You don't have to do the design problems here but you can use them for practice. We will have a new set of design problems.
3	2/11	Passive Matching Networks (2) Nonlinearity	Lecture 3 (pdf, video) Example: Nonlinearity warm-up Download and/or make a copy, then feel free to edit and experiment! Notes: Nonlinearity You don't have to do the activities here but you can use them for practice. We will have a new set of activities.
4	2/18	Nonlinearity Metrics	Lecture 4 (pdf, video)
	2/25	No Class (EDSA Revolution Anniversary)
5	3/4	Noise in RF Circuits Resistor Noise	Lecture 5 (pdf, video -- part1, part2) Notes: Resistor Noise
6	3/11, 3/18	Noise in RF Circuits Diode and Transistor Noise Noise Analysis Sensitivity and Dynamic Range	Lecture 6 (pdf, video) Lecture 7 (pdf, video) Example: Resistor noise simulation Notes: Diode and Transistor Noise Noise in RF Circuits Noise Analysis
Communication Concepts
7	3/25	Modulation Analog Modulation Digital Modulation Multiple Access Techniques Time and Frequency Division Multiplexing CDMA Transceiver Architectures Heterodyne Receivers Direct-Conversion Receivers Image-Reject Receivers Direct Conversion Transmitters
RF Circuits
8	4/1	Low Noise Amplifiers Input Matching LNA Topologies
9	4/8	Mixers (1) Passive Downconversion Mixers
	4/15	No Class (Lenten Break)
10	4/22	Mixers (2) Active Downconversion Mixers
11	4/29	Oscillators Cross-Coupled Oscillators Voltage-Controlled Oscillators
12	5/6	Phase-Locked Loops Type-I and Type-II PLLs PFD/CP Nonidealities
13	5/13	Power Amplifiers PA Classes High-Efficiency PAs Cascode Output Stages Linearization
Transceiver Design Example
14	5/20	Transceiver Design Example (1) System-Level Considerations Receiver Design Transmitter Design Synthesizer Design

Textbook

• Behzad Razavi, RF Microelectronics (2nd Edition), Prentice Hall Press, 2011, USA.

References

• ngspice user manual

Important Dates

From the UP Diliman Academic Calendar for AY 2024-2025

• Start of classes: January 20, 2025
• Mid-Semester: March 18, 2025
• Dropping deadline: April 24, 2025
• Lenten break: April 14-19, 2025
• LOA deadline: May 7, 2025
• End of classes: May 22, 2025