We present the first all-digital PLL and polar transmitter for mobile phones. They are part of a single-chip GSM/EDGE transceiver SoC fabricated in a 90 nm digital CMOS process. The circuits are architectured from the ground up to be compatible with digital deep-submicron CMOS processes and be readily integrateable with a digital baseband and application processor. To achieve this, we exploit the new paradigm of a deep-submicron CMOS process environment by leveraging on the fast switching times of MOS transistors, the fine lithography and the precise device matching, while avoiding problems related to the limited voltage headroom. The transmitter architecture is fully digital and utilizes the wideband direct frequency modulation capability of the all-digital PLL. The amplitude modulation is realized digitally by regulating the number of active NMOS transistor switches in accordance with the instantaneous amplitude. The conventional RF frequency synthesizer architecture, based on a voltage-controlled oscillator and phase/frequency detector and charge-pump combination, has been replaced with a digitally controlled oscillator and a time-to-digital converter. The transmitter performs GMSK modulation with less than 0.5/spl deg/ rms phase error, -165 dBc/Hz phase noise at 20 MHz offset, and 10 /spl mu/s settling time. The 8-PSK EDGE spectral mask is met with 1.2% EVM. The transmitter occupies 1.5 mm/sup 2/ and consumes 42 mA at 1.2 V supply while producing 6 dBm RF output power.

/pdf/all-digital-pll-and-transmitter-for-mobile-phones-2mf5fxyzjo.pdf

All-digital PLL and transmitter for mobile phones

We present a single-chip fully compliant Bluetooth radio fabricated in a digital 130-nm CMOS process. The transceiver is architectured from the ground up to be compatible with digital deep-submicron CMOS processes and be readily integrated with a digital baseband and application processor. The conventional RF frequency synthesizer architecture, based on the voltage-controlled oscillator and the phase/frequency detector and charge-pump combination, has been replaced with a digitally controlled oscillator and a time-to-digital converter, respectively. The transmitter architecture takes advantage of the wideband frequency modulation capability of the all-digital phase-locked loop with built-in automatic compensation to ensure modulation accuracy. The receiver employs a discrete-time architecture in which the RF signal is directly sampled and processed using analog and digital signal processing techniques. The complete chip also integrates power management functions and a digital baseband processor. Application of the presented ideas has resulted in significant area and power savings while producing structures that are amenable to migration to more advanced deep-submicron processes, as they become available. The entire IC occupies 10 mm/sup 2/ and consumes 28 mA during transmit and 41 mA during receive at 1.5-V supply.

https://users.ece.utexas.edu/~adnan/comm-08/bluetooth-jssc-04.pdf

All-digital TX frequency synthesizer and discrete-time receiver for Bluetooth radio in 130-nm CMOS

A 1-Mb/s 916.5-MHz on-off keying (OOK) transceiver for short-range wireless sensor networks has been designed in a 0.18-mum CMOS process. The receiver has an envelope detection based architecture with a highly scalable RF front-end. Untuned RF circuits are leveraged and optimized in the receiver to achieve superior energy efficiency compared to tuned RF circuits. The receiver power consumption scales from 0.5 mW to 2.6 mW, with an associated sensitivity of -37 dBm to -65 dBm at a BER of 10 -3. The transmitter consumes 3.8 mW to 9.1 mW with output power from -11.4 dBm to -2.2 dBm. The receiver achieves a startup time of 2.5 mus, allowing for efficient duty cycling

An Energy-Efficient OOK Transceiver for Wireless Sensor Networks

All-CMOS radio transceivers and systems-on-a-chip are rapidly making inroads into a wireless market that for years was dominated by bipolar and BiCMOS solutions. It is not a matter of replacing bipolar transistors in known circuit topologies with FETs; the wave of RF CMOS brings with it new architectures and unprecedented levels of integration. What are its origins? What is the commercial impact? How will RF CMOS evolve in the future? This paper offers a retrospective and a perspective.

RF CMOS comes of age

Transceiver architecture selection: Review, state-of-the-art survey and case study

A discrete-time receiver architecture for a wireless application is presented. Analog signal processing concepts are used to directly sample the RF input at Nyquist rate. Maximum receiver sensitivity is -83dBm and the chip consumes a total of 41mA from a 1.575V internally regulated supply. The receiver is implemented in a 0.13/spl mu/m digital CMOS process.

O. Moreira

Papers

A discrete-time Bluetooth receiver in a 0.13/spl mu/m digital CMOS process