This work presents a new design methodology for radio frequency (RF) integrated circuits based on a unified analysis of the scattering parameters of the circuit and the gm/ID ratio of the involved transistors. Since the scattering parameters of the circuits are parameterized by means of the physical characteristics of transistors, designers can optimize transistor size and biasing to comply with the circuit specifications given in terms of S-parameters. A complete design of a cascode low noise amplifier (LNA) in MOS 65 nm technology is taken as a case study in order to validate the approach. In addition, this methodology permits the identification of the best trade-off between the minimum noise figure and the maximum gain for the LNA in a very simple way.
26 April 2010 in Microwave and Optical Technology Letters
In this work, the design and implementation of an open source software and hardware system for Internet of Things (IoT) applications is presented. This system permits the remote monitoring of supplied data from sensors and webcams and the control of different devices such as actuators, servomotors and LEDs. The parameters which have been monitored are brightness, temperature and relative humidity all of which constitute possible environmental factors. The control and monitoring of the installation is realised through a server which is managed by an administrator. The device which rules the installation is a Raspberry Pi, a small and powerful micro-computer in a single board with low consumption, low cost and reconfigurability.
1 November 2011 in Journal of Circuits, Systems and Computers
In this paper, a wide-band noise-canceling (NC) current conveyor (CC)-based CMOS low-noise amplifier (LNA) is presented. The circuit employs a CC-based approach to obtain wide-band input matching without the need for bulky inductances, allowing broadband performance with a very small area used. The NC technique is applied by subtracting the input transistor’s noise contribution to the output and achieves a noise figure (NF) reduction from 4.8 dB to 3.2 dB. The NC LNA is implemented in a UMC 65-nm CMOS process and occupies an area of only 160 × 80 μm2. It achieves a stable frequency response from 0 to 6.2 GHz, a maximum gain of 15.3 dB, an input return loss (S11) < −10 dB, and a remarkable IIP3 of 7.6 dBm, while consuming 18.6 mW from a ±1.2 V DC supply. Comparisons with similar works prove the effectiveness of this new implementation, showing that the circuit obtains a noteworthy performance trade-off.