2017 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium (IMS), 2017
Full duplex communication systems promise to double the available spectrum by enabling simultaneo... more Full duplex communication systems promise to double the available spectrum by enabling simultaneous transmit and receive capabilities. Receiver linearity and its effective isolation from the transmitter must be extremely large to allow detection of any desired signals in the presence of self-interference within the receiver bandwidth. Echoes from the environment may introduce additional distortion that further hinder detection. These challenges are multiplied if full duplex capability is to be achieved over wide bandwidths. This paper describes and demonstrates the performance of a novel wide band transceiver architecture for full duplex applications. The full duplex performance is agnostic to the transmitter hardware in use. Measurements demonstrate the simultaneous detection of an complex communication signal and a chirp signal completely uncorrelated with the transmitted signal which delivers 45 (dBm) to the antenna at the same time in the same bandwidth. To the authors' know...
As the title suggests, I am inviting the reader to take a brief walk with me and discuss the inte... more As the title suggests, I am inviting the reader to take a brief walk with me and discuss the interesting subject of microwave noise. My goal is to provide some highlights on this subject, from its basic pillars based on physics to the latest engineering publications. A solid understanding of noise cannot but stand on the shoulders of the physicists who have continually been looking at overcoming the limitations of any theoretical model to explain nature. Names like Brown, Einstein, and Nyquist must be mentioned before focusing on the applications of those ideas, which started more than 100 years ago: How do you describe noise when considering microwave circuits? How do you characterize noisy microwave circuits nowadays?
IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 2020
In this article, a novel tunerless technique aimed at extracting the noise parameters of on-wafer... more In this article, a novel tunerless technique aimed at extracting the noise parameters of on-wafer transistors is experimentally validated. In detail, the effectiveness of the method has been confirmed by employing two different setups in two remotely located laboratories. The obtained noise parameters exhibit the level of accuracy typical of the standard source tuner-based Lane technique, without the well-known limitations due to the microwave tuner. The theoretical bases of the technique have been straightforwardly illustrated, and an extensive measurement campaign has been carried out on GaAs pHEMTs to confirm the suitability of the proposed approach. Furthermore, the technique can be applied to determine the contribution of additional thermal noise sources. The developed technique might represent the core of an automatic noise parameters’ extraction test bench.
IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 2020
This article establishes the limitations of an existing procedure that determines the noise param... more This article establishes the limitations of an existing procedure that determines the noise parameters of a scalable microwave two-port network by changing its size. The existing procedure, applied to active devices, relies on a well-accepted noise model based on two uncorrelated equivalent temperatures to replicate the device’s noise performance over frequency. A logical extension of the existing procedure is to make it model-agnostic: use the device size to remove the noise model requirement and determine its four noise parameters directly from measurement data. This article provides the theoretical reason as to why this straightforward extension fails. Both simulation and measured data are offered to confirm the unexpected result. A deep understanding of noise parameters’ characterization is the unique contribution of this article because the limitations of the size based approach are exposed and clarified. How to overcome those limitations and determine the four noise parameters will be the subject of further publications.
This paper offers novel insights in the importance of optimal design of the connections between c... more This paper offers novel insights in the importance of optimal design of the connections between component ground plane and the common reference plane in integrated Silicon circuits while presenting a differential 1.5-2.5 GHz wide bandpass filter design based on lumped elements and manufactured in Global Foundries SiGe 8HP BiCMOS process. Lumped elements are rarely implemented because of their size requirement but are needed to address the linearity performance of the System-on-a-Chip (SoC) of which the differential filter is essential component. Filter test die results show a skew of the 2 GHz center frequency that is associated with how the connection between the PDK inductor ground and the overall internal ground plane that screens out the Silicon substrate is made. EM simulations identified the cause of the skew. A new filter layout yielding the desired frequency response was included in the SoC recently taped out.
The Signal Processing Electronic Attack RFIC (SPEAR) is a simultaneous transmit and receive (STAR... more The Signal Processing Electronic Attack RFIC (SPEAR) is a simultaneous transmit and receive (STAR) system capable of STAR operation in the presence of 1 kW EIRP power, independently of the choice of transmitter in use. The paper reports on the status of the SPEAR project that started 2 years ago with the support of the Office of Naval Research, Code 31. Preliminary measurements based on a COTS-based receiver prototype will be presented. To the authors’ knowledge, the measured results from the prototype already demonstrate state-of-the-art STAR performance and provide a solid base for the integration of the complete system.
2017 47th European Microwave Conference (EuMC), 2017
This papers reports for the first time on the measurement of the noise parameters of an active no... more This papers reports for the first time on the measurement of the noise parameters of an active noisy 4-port network. The measurement stems from a novel analytical approach that allows the noise parameters of a noisy linear network with any number of ports to be determined. The analytical approach has been described in a previous publication and passive networks were used to confirm its correctness. This paper applies the new technique to an active 4-port device for the first time. The results confirm the feasibility of measuring active mixed-mode circuits without the use of additional networks such as baluns and open up the possibility of determining mixed-mode noise figure values with the correct terminations at all ports.
The paper reports on the design and characterization at Q band of a compact, integrated Marchand ... more The paper reports on the design and characterization at Q band of a compact, integrated Marchand balun with state-of-the-art performance. The balun?s goal is to bring a differential signal delivered by a medium power amplifier (PA) stage to a single-ended output pad. The balun must allow a DC source to bias the PA stage. The practical design constraints on the balun are discussed and a simple, yet effective, design methodology is suggested. The balun has been EM-simulated as a 4-port network to account for the DC input before fabricating it in IBM?s SiGe 8HP process. Experimental results confirm the design approach.
2018 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS), 2018
This article presents a highly linear BiCMOS sample and hold amplifier (SHA) providing 2.8 GS/s i... more This article presents a highly linear BiCMOS sample and hold amplifier (SHA) providing 2.8 GS/s intermediate frequency (IF) sampling for a 1 GHz bandwidth input spanning from 1.5 GHz to 2.5 GHz. A single-transistor hold-mode feedthrough cancellation technique is implemented to remove the distortion resulting from the nonlinear parasitic capacitance at the sampling node. The SHA is designed in a mainstream 130 nm BiCMOS technology using SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) to buffer and sample the wide-band input. Potential inclusion of this BiCMOS SHA in a subsequent high-speed ADC design provides the possibility for a monolithic high performance converter solution. This independent sampling front-end occupies a core chip area of 0.6 mm2. The SHA is a pseudo-differential open-loop design that includes two cascaded track-and-hold amplifiers (THA), a high-speed clock driver, and externally adjustable current mirror biases. Measurements of the fabricated SHA show a 10-bit eff...
For the first time, the experimental values of the noise parameters of a set of GaAs pHEMT obtain... more For the first time, the experimental values of the noise parameters of a set of GaAs pHEMT obtained through the standard source tuner-based Lane technique and a new size-based, tuner-less technique, are compared. The noise parameters have been obtained independently by 2 renowned microwave laboratories after sharing the same set of devices. The laboratories are located at the University of Messina, Italy, and at the US Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC. This paper demonstrates 2 new accomplishments: that the noise parameters obtained through the new tuner-less technique are equivalent to the noise parameters obtained through the standard tuner-based technique; and that the new tuner-less extraction has been extended successfully up to 26 GHz. The new size-based technique supports the implementation of an automatic noise parameters extraction in a similar fashion to the automatic determination of scattering parameters.
This contribution deals with the microwave linear characterization and noise figure measurement o... more This contribution deals with the microwave linear characterization and noise figure measurement of four on-wafer GaAs pseudomorphic high-electron mobility transistors having scaled gate widths. The proposed measurement campaign has been fulfilled in two different laboratories: The University of Messina, Italy and US Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA. Two equivalent approaches have been straightforwardly employed: a standard tuner-based technique and a novel tuner-less technique. The effectiveness of the novel technique has been confirmed as carried out independently by the two laboratories, evidencing the benefits of both techniques. The proposed experimental activity highlights the applicability of the tunerless technique for the noise characterization of advanced on-wafer devices without the constraint imposed by the addition of a source tuner to the standard measurement setup.
2016 46th European Microwave Conference (EuMC), 2016
The paper outlines the main results of a novel and comprehensive analysis for the determination o... more The paper outlines the main results of a novel and comprehensive analysis for the determination of the noise parameters of linear noisy microwave networks with any number of ports. The well-established approach by Lane for the case of linear 2 port networks becomes a particular case of this analysis. A thorough discussion of the results identifies practical requirements as well as constraints for a successful noise characterization of any N-port networks. The noise parameters of a passive 4 port network are determined to validate the analysis against measurements. This paper is the first demonstration of a method to determine the noise parameters of a linear network with any number of ports.
2016 Texas Symposium on Wireless and Microwave Circuits and Systems (WMCS), 2016
The paper outlines the main results of a novel and comprehensive analysis for the determination o... more The paper outlines the main results of a novel and comprehensive analysis for the determination of the noise parameters of linear noisy microwave networks with any number of ports. The well-established approach by Lane for the case of linear 2 port networks becomes a particular case of this analysis. A thorough discussion of the results identifies practical requirements as well as constraints for a successful noise characterization of any N-port networks. The noise parameters of a circulator are determined to validate the analysis against measurements. This paper is the first demonstration of a method to determine the noise parameters of a linear network with any number of ports.
2017 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium (IMS), 2017
Full duplex communication systems promise to double the available spectrum by enabling simultaneo... more Full duplex communication systems promise to double the available spectrum by enabling simultaneous transmit and receive capabilities. Receiver linearity and its effective isolation from the transmitter must be extremely large to allow detection of any desired signals in the presence of self-interference within the receiver bandwidth. Echoes from the environment may introduce additional distortion that further hinder detection. These challenges are multiplied if full duplex capability is to be achieved over wide bandwidths. This paper describes and demonstrates the performance of a novel wide band transceiver architecture for full duplex applications. The full duplex performance is agnostic to the transmitter hardware in use. Measurements demonstrate the simultaneous detection of an complex communication signal and a chirp signal completely uncorrelated with the transmitted signal which delivers 45 (dBm) to the antenna at the same time in the same bandwidth. To the authors' know...
As the title suggests, I am inviting the reader to take a brief walk with me and discuss the inte... more As the title suggests, I am inviting the reader to take a brief walk with me and discuss the interesting subject of microwave noise. My goal is to provide some highlights on this subject, from its basic pillars based on physics to the latest engineering publications. A solid understanding of noise cannot but stand on the shoulders of the physicists who have continually been looking at overcoming the limitations of any theoretical model to explain nature. Names like Brown, Einstein, and Nyquist must be mentioned before focusing on the applications of those ideas, which started more than 100 years ago: How do you describe noise when considering microwave circuits? How do you characterize noisy microwave circuits nowadays?
IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 2020
In this article, a novel tunerless technique aimed at extracting the noise parameters of on-wafer... more In this article, a novel tunerless technique aimed at extracting the noise parameters of on-wafer transistors is experimentally validated. In detail, the effectiveness of the method has been confirmed by employing two different setups in two remotely located laboratories. The obtained noise parameters exhibit the level of accuracy typical of the standard source tuner-based Lane technique, without the well-known limitations due to the microwave tuner. The theoretical bases of the technique have been straightforwardly illustrated, and an extensive measurement campaign has been carried out on GaAs pHEMTs to confirm the suitability of the proposed approach. Furthermore, the technique can be applied to determine the contribution of additional thermal noise sources. The developed technique might represent the core of an automatic noise parameters’ extraction test bench.
IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 2020
This article establishes the limitations of an existing procedure that determines the noise param... more This article establishes the limitations of an existing procedure that determines the noise parameters of a scalable microwave two-port network by changing its size. The existing procedure, applied to active devices, relies on a well-accepted noise model based on two uncorrelated equivalent temperatures to replicate the device’s noise performance over frequency. A logical extension of the existing procedure is to make it model-agnostic: use the device size to remove the noise model requirement and determine its four noise parameters directly from measurement data. This article provides the theoretical reason as to why this straightforward extension fails. Both simulation and measured data are offered to confirm the unexpected result. A deep understanding of noise parameters’ characterization is the unique contribution of this article because the limitations of the size based approach are exposed and clarified. How to overcome those limitations and determine the four noise parameters will be the subject of further publications.
This paper offers novel insights in the importance of optimal design of the connections between c... more This paper offers novel insights in the importance of optimal design of the connections between component ground plane and the common reference plane in integrated Silicon circuits while presenting a differential 1.5-2.5 GHz wide bandpass filter design based on lumped elements and manufactured in Global Foundries SiGe 8HP BiCMOS process. Lumped elements are rarely implemented because of their size requirement but are needed to address the linearity performance of the System-on-a-Chip (SoC) of which the differential filter is essential component. Filter test die results show a skew of the 2 GHz center frequency that is associated with how the connection between the PDK inductor ground and the overall internal ground plane that screens out the Silicon substrate is made. EM simulations identified the cause of the skew. A new filter layout yielding the desired frequency response was included in the SoC recently taped out.
The Signal Processing Electronic Attack RFIC (SPEAR) is a simultaneous transmit and receive (STAR... more The Signal Processing Electronic Attack RFIC (SPEAR) is a simultaneous transmit and receive (STAR) system capable of STAR operation in the presence of 1 kW EIRP power, independently of the choice of transmitter in use. The paper reports on the status of the SPEAR project that started 2 years ago with the support of the Office of Naval Research, Code 31. Preliminary measurements based on a COTS-based receiver prototype will be presented. To the authors’ knowledge, the measured results from the prototype already demonstrate state-of-the-art STAR performance and provide a solid base for the integration of the complete system.
2017 47th European Microwave Conference (EuMC), 2017
This papers reports for the first time on the measurement of the noise parameters of an active no... more This papers reports for the first time on the measurement of the noise parameters of an active noisy 4-port network. The measurement stems from a novel analytical approach that allows the noise parameters of a noisy linear network with any number of ports to be determined. The analytical approach has been described in a previous publication and passive networks were used to confirm its correctness. This paper applies the new technique to an active 4-port device for the first time. The results confirm the feasibility of measuring active mixed-mode circuits without the use of additional networks such as baluns and open up the possibility of determining mixed-mode noise figure values with the correct terminations at all ports.
The paper reports on the design and characterization at Q band of a compact, integrated Marchand ... more The paper reports on the design and characterization at Q band of a compact, integrated Marchand balun with state-of-the-art performance. The balun?s goal is to bring a differential signal delivered by a medium power amplifier (PA) stage to a single-ended output pad. The balun must allow a DC source to bias the PA stage. The practical design constraints on the balun are discussed and a simple, yet effective, design methodology is suggested. The balun has been EM-simulated as a 4-port network to account for the DC input before fabricating it in IBM?s SiGe 8HP process. Experimental results confirm the design approach.
2018 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS), 2018
This article presents a highly linear BiCMOS sample and hold amplifier (SHA) providing 2.8 GS/s i... more This article presents a highly linear BiCMOS sample and hold amplifier (SHA) providing 2.8 GS/s intermediate frequency (IF) sampling for a 1 GHz bandwidth input spanning from 1.5 GHz to 2.5 GHz. A single-transistor hold-mode feedthrough cancellation technique is implemented to remove the distortion resulting from the nonlinear parasitic capacitance at the sampling node. The SHA is designed in a mainstream 130 nm BiCMOS technology using SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) to buffer and sample the wide-band input. Potential inclusion of this BiCMOS SHA in a subsequent high-speed ADC design provides the possibility for a monolithic high performance converter solution. This independent sampling front-end occupies a core chip area of 0.6 mm2. The SHA is a pseudo-differential open-loop design that includes two cascaded track-and-hold amplifiers (THA), a high-speed clock driver, and externally adjustable current mirror biases. Measurements of the fabricated SHA show a 10-bit eff...
For the first time, the experimental values of the noise parameters of a set of GaAs pHEMT obtain... more For the first time, the experimental values of the noise parameters of a set of GaAs pHEMT obtained through the standard source tuner-based Lane technique and a new size-based, tuner-less technique, are compared. The noise parameters have been obtained independently by 2 renowned microwave laboratories after sharing the same set of devices. The laboratories are located at the University of Messina, Italy, and at the US Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC. This paper demonstrates 2 new accomplishments: that the noise parameters obtained through the new tuner-less technique are equivalent to the noise parameters obtained through the standard tuner-based technique; and that the new tuner-less extraction has been extended successfully up to 26 GHz. The new size-based technique supports the implementation of an automatic noise parameters extraction in a similar fashion to the automatic determination of scattering parameters.
This contribution deals with the microwave linear characterization and noise figure measurement o... more This contribution deals with the microwave linear characterization and noise figure measurement of four on-wafer GaAs pseudomorphic high-electron mobility transistors having scaled gate widths. The proposed measurement campaign has been fulfilled in two different laboratories: The University of Messina, Italy and US Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA. Two equivalent approaches have been straightforwardly employed: a standard tuner-based technique and a novel tuner-less technique. The effectiveness of the novel technique has been confirmed as carried out independently by the two laboratories, evidencing the benefits of both techniques. The proposed experimental activity highlights the applicability of the tunerless technique for the noise characterization of advanced on-wafer devices without the constraint imposed by the addition of a source tuner to the standard measurement setup.
2016 46th European Microwave Conference (EuMC), 2016
The paper outlines the main results of a novel and comprehensive analysis for the determination o... more The paper outlines the main results of a novel and comprehensive analysis for the determination of the noise parameters of linear noisy microwave networks with any number of ports. The well-established approach by Lane for the case of linear 2 port networks becomes a particular case of this analysis. A thorough discussion of the results identifies practical requirements as well as constraints for a successful noise characterization of any N-port networks. The noise parameters of a passive 4 port network are determined to validate the analysis against measurements. This paper is the first demonstration of a method to determine the noise parameters of a linear network with any number of ports.
2016 Texas Symposium on Wireless and Microwave Circuits and Systems (WMCS), 2016
The paper outlines the main results of a novel and comprehensive analysis for the determination o... more The paper outlines the main results of a novel and comprehensive analysis for the determination of the noise parameters of linear noisy microwave networks with any number of ports. The well-established approach by Lane for the case of linear 2 port networks becomes a particular case of this analysis. A thorough discussion of the results identifies practical requirements as well as constraints for a successful noise characterization of any N-port networks. The noise parameters of a circulator are determined to validate the analysis against measurements. This paper is the first demonstration of a method to determine the noise parameters of a linear network with any number of ports.
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