Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit Design

Radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) design concerns the engineering of circuits that generate, amplify, and process signals at frequencies ranging from hundreds of megahertz into the millimeter-wave regime, all built onto a single silicon chip using technologies like CMOS. These circuits form the core of wireless communication systems — handling everything from the low-noise amplification of faint incoming signals to the precise frequency synthesis that keeps a transmitter and receiver locked in step — so their performance directly sets the limits of range, data rate, and power consumption in devices from smartphones to radar sensors. Pushing into millimeter-wave frequencies, where wavelengths shrink to a few millimeters, introduces new challenges around signal loss, transistor parasitics, and phase noise — the unwanted frequency jitter in oscillators that degrades link quality. Active research directions include designing CMOS transceivers that operate efficiently above 100 GHz for next-generation communications and imaging, and developing circuit techniques that suppress phase noise without the power and area costs that typically accompany such improvements.

Works

79,317

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700,787

Keywords

CMOSOscillatorsLow-Noise AmplifiersMillimeter-WaveRFIntegrated Circuits