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Article
Publication date: 18 May 2021

Norhamizah Idros, Alia Rosli, Zulfiqar Ali Abdul Aziz, Jagadheswaran Rajendran and Arjuna Marzuki

The purpose of this paper is to present the performance of an 8-bit hybrid DAC which is suitable for wireless application or part of a built-in test block for ADC. The hybrid…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present the performance of an 8-bit hybrid DAC which is suitable for wireless application or part of a built-in test block for ADC. The hybrid architecture used is the combination of thermometer coding and binary-weighted resistor architectures.

Design/methodology/approach

The conventional DAC topology performance tends to degrade at high-resolution applications. A hybrid topology, which combines an equal number of bits of thermometer coding and binary-weighted resistor architectures operating at higher sampling frequency, was proposed in this work. The die was fabricated in 180 nm CMOS process technology with a supplied voltage of 1.8 V.

Findings

Measured results showed that the DNL and INL errors are within −1 to +1 LSB and −0.9 to +0.9 LSB, respectively for the input range of 0.9 V at the clock rate of 200 MHz, and this DAC was proven monotonic. This 0.068 mm2 DAC consumed 12.6 mW for the data conversion.

Originality/value

This paper is of value in showing the equal division of bits from thermometer coding and binary-weighted resistor architectures provides smaller die size and enhances the performance of hybrid DAC, in terms of linearity, which are DNL and INL errors and guarantees monotonicity at higher sampling frequency.

Details

Microelectronics International, vol. 38 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-5362

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 September 2020

Norhamizah Idros, Zulfiqar Ali Abdul Aziz and Jagadheswaran Rajendran

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the acceptable performance by using the limited input range towards lower open-loop DC gain operational amplifier (op-amp) of an 8-bit…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the acceptable performance by using the limited input range towards lower open-loop DC gain operational amplifier (op-amp) of an 8-bit pipelined analog-to-digital converter (ADC) for mobile communication application.

Design/methodology/approach

An op-amp with folded cascode configuration is designed to provide the maximum open-loop DC gain without any gain-boosting technique. The impact of low open-loop DC gain is observed and analysed through the results of pre-, post-layout simulations and measurement of the ADC. The fabrication process technology used is Silterra 0.18-µm CMOS process. The silicon area by the ADC is 1.08 mm2.

Findings

Measured results show the differential non-linearity (DNL) error, integral non-linearity (INL) error, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) are within −0.2 to +0.2 LSB, −0.55 LSB for 0.4 Vpp input range, 22 and 27 dB, respectively, with 2 MHz input signal at the rate of 64 MS/s. The static power consumption is 40 mW with a supply voltage of 1.8 V.

Originality/value

The experimental results of ADC showed that by limiting the input range to ±0.2 V, this ADC is able to give a good reasonable performance. Open-loop DC gain of op-amp plays a critical role in ADC performance. Low open-loop DC gain results in stage-gain error of residue amplifier and, thus, leads to nonlinearity of output code. Nevertheless, lowering the input range enhances the linearity to ±0.2 LSB.

Details

Microelectronics International, vol. 37 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-5362

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 February 2021

Selvakumar Mariappan, Jagadheswaran Rajendran, Norlaili Mohd Noh, Yusman Yusof and Narendra Kumar

The purpose of this paper is to implement a highly linear 180 nm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) power amplifier (PA) to meet the stringent linearity requirement of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to implement a highly linear 180 nm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) power amplifier (PA) to meet the stringent linearity requirement of an long term evolution (LTE) signal with minimum trade-off to power added efficiency (PAE).

Design/methodology/approach

The CMOS PA is designed in a cascaded dual-stage configuration comprises a driver amplifier and a main PA. The gate voltage (VGS) of the driver amplifier is tuned to optimize its positive third-order transconductance (gm3) to be canceled with the main PA’s fixed negative gm3. The gm3 cancellation between these stages mitigates the third-order intermodulation product (IMD3) that contributes to enhanced linearity.

Findings

For driver’s VGS of 0.82 V with continuous wave signal, the proposed PA achieved a power gain of 14.5 dB with a peak PAE of 31.8% and a saturated output power of 23.3 dBm at 2.45 GHz. A maximum third-order output intercept point of 34 dBm is achieved at 20.2 dBm output power with a corresponding IMD3 of −33.4 dBc. When tested with a 20 MHz LTE signal, the PA delivers 19 dBm maximum linear output power for an adjacent channel leakage ratio specification of −30 dBc.

Originality/value

In this study, a novel cascaded gm3 cancellation technique has been implemented to achieve a maximum linear output power under modulated signals.

Details

Circuit World, vol. 48 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0305-6120

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 August 2021

Premmilaah Gunasegaran, Jagadheswaran Rajendran, Selvakumar Mariappan, Yusman Mohd Yusof, Zulfiqar Ali Abdul Aziz and Narendra Kumar

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new linearization technique known as the passive linearizer technique which does not affect the power added efficiency (PAE) while…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new linearization technique known as the passive linearizer technique which does not affect the power added efficiency (PAE) while maintaining a power gain of more than 20 dB for complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) power amplifier (PA).

Design/methodology/approach

The linearization mechanism is executed with an aid of a passive linearizer implemented at the gate of the main amplifier to minimize the effect of Cgs capacitance through the generation of opposite phase response at the main amplifier. The inductor-less output matching network presents an almost lossless output matching network which contributes to high gain, PAE and output power. The linearity performance is improved without the penalty of power consumption, power gain and stability.

Findings

With this topology, the PA delivers more than 20 dB gain for the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Band from 2.4 GHz to 2.5 GHz with a supply headroom of 1.8 V. At the center frequency of 2.45 GHz, the PA exhibits a gain of 23.3 dB with corresponding peak PAE of 40.11% at a maximum output power of 14.3 dBm. At a maximum linear output power of 12.7 dBm, a PAE of 37.3% has been achieved with a peak third order intermodulation product of 28.04 dBm with a power consumption of 50.58 mW. This corresponds to ACLR of – 20 dBc, thus qualifying the PA to operate for BLE operation.

Practical implications

The proposed technique is able to boost up the efficiency and output power, as well as linearize the PA closer to 1 dB compression point. This reduces the trade-off between linear output power and PAE in CMOS PA design.

Originality/value

The proposed CMOS PA can be integrated comfortably to a BLE transmitter, allowing it to reduce the transceiver’s overall power consumption.

Details

Microelectronics International, vol. 38 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-5362

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 October 2022

Nuha Rhaffor, Wei Keat Ang, Mohamed Fauzi Packeer Mohamed, Jagadheswaran Rajendran, Norlaili Mohd Noh, Mohd Tafir Mustaffa and Mohd Hendra Hairi

The purpose of this study is to show that due to the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) industry in recent years, the demand for the higher integration of wireless…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to show that due to the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) industry in recent years, the demand for the higher integration of wireless communication systems with a higher data rate of transmission capacity and lower power consumption has increased tremendously. The radio frequency power amplifier (PA) design is getting more challenging and crucial. A PA for a 2.45 GHz IoT application using 0.18 µm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology is presented in this paper.

Design/methodology/approach

The design consists of two stages, the driver and output stage, where both use a single-stage common source transistor configuration. In view of performance, the PA can deliver more than 20 dB gain from 2.4 GHz to 2.5 GHz.

Findings

The maximum output power achieved by PA is 13.28 dBm. As the PA design is targeted for Bluetooth low energy (BLE) transmitter use, a minimum of 10 dBm output power should be achieved by PA to transmit the signal in BLE standard. The PA exhibits a constant output third-order interception point of 18 dBm before PA becomes saturated after 10 dBm output power. The PA shows a peak power added efficiency of 17.82% at the 13.24 dBm output power.

Originality/value

The PA design exhibits good linearity up to 10 dBm out the PA design exhibits good linearity up to 10 dBm output power without sacrificing efficiency. At the operating frequency of 2.45 GHz, the PA exhibits a stability k-factor, the value of more than 1; thus, the PA design is considered unconditional stable. Besides, the PA shows the s-parameters performance of –7.91 dB for S11, –11.07 dB for S22 and 21.5 dB for S21.

Details

Microelectronics International, vol. 40 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-5362

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 January 2018

Pragash Sangaran, Narendra Kumar, Jagadheswaran Rajendran and Andrei Grebennikov

This paper aims to propose a practical design methodology of high-power wideband power amplifier.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to propose a practical design methodology of high-power wideband power amplifier.

Design/methodology/approach

The distributed power amplification method is used for a Gallium Nitride device to achieve wideband operation. To achieve the high power without trading-off the bandwidth and gain, a methodology to extract the package-loading effect is proposed and verified.

Findings

A maximum output power of 10 W is achieved from 100 MHz to 2 GHz with a wideband power gain of 32 dB in measurement. This performance is achieved through a single section matching network.

Research limitations/implications

Measurement accuracy is dependable to the thermal behaviour of the high-power device.

Practical implications

The proposed technique is an excellent solution to be used in the two way radio power amplifier that minimizes the fundamental trade-off issue between power, gain, bandwidth and efficiency.

Originality/value

In this work, a practical distributed power amplifier (DPA) design methodology is proposed that reduces the development cycle time for industrial engineers working on high-power circuit design application.

Details

Microelectronics International, vol. 35 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-5362

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 March 2020

Min Liu, Panpan Xu, Jincan Zhang, Bo Liu and Liwen Zhang

Power amplifiers (PAs) play an important role in wireless communications because they dominate system performance. High-linearity broadband PAs are of great value for potential…

Abstract

Purpose

Power amplifiers (PAs) play an important role in wireless communications because they dominate system performance. High-linearity broadband PAs are of great value for potential use in multi-band system implementation. The purpose of this paper is to present a cascode power amplifier architecture to achieve high power and high efficiency requirements for 4.2∼5.4 GHz applications.

Design/methodology/approach

A common emitter (CE) configuration with a stacked common base configuration of heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) is used to achieve high power. T-type matching network is used as input matching network. To increase the bandwidth, the output matching networks are implemented using the two L-networks.

Findings

By using the proposed method, the stacked PA demonstrates a maximum saturated output power of 26.2 dBm, a compact chip size of 1.17 × 0.59 mm2 and a maximum power-added efficiency of 46.3 per cent. The PA shows a wideband small signal gain with less than 3 dB variation over working frequency. The saturated output power of the proposed PA is higher than 25 dBm between 4.2 and 5.4 GHz.

Originality/value

The technology adopted for the design of the 4.2-to-5.4 GHz stacked PA is the 2-µm gallium arsenide HBT process. Based on the proposed method, a better power performance of 3 dB improvement can be achieved as compared with the conventional CE or common-source amplifier because of high output stacking impedance.

Details

Circuit World, vol. 46 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0305-6120

Keywords

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