Microwave Wireless Communications

From Transistor to System Level

Antonio Raffo, Giovanni Crupi

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9780128038949
• eBook ISBN: 9780128039366
• Topic: Design
• Subtopic: Industrial Design

To design and develop fast and effective microwave wireless systems today involves addressing the three different 'levels': Device, circuit, and system. This book presents the links and interactions between the three different levels rather than providing just a comprehensive coverage of one specific level. With the aim of overcoming the sectional knowledge of microwave engineers, this will be the first book focused on explaining how the three different levels interact by taking the reader on a journey through the different levels going from the theoretical background to the practical applications. - Explains the links and interactions between the three different design levels of wireless communication transmitters: device, circuit, and system - Presents state-of-the-art, challenges, and future trends in the field of wireless communication systems - Covers all aspects of both mature and cutting-edge technologies for semiconductor devices for wireless communication applications - Many circuit designs outlining the limitations derived from the available transistor technologies and system requirements - Explains how new microwave measurement techniques can represent an essential tool for microwave modellers and designers

Chapter 1

Microwave transistor modeling

G. Crupi*; A. Raffo^†; G. Avolio^‡; A. Caddemi*; D.M.M.-P. Schreurs^‡; G. Vannini^{† *} University of Messina, Messina, Italy
^† University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
^‡ KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

Abstract

The first chapter is meant to give a comprehensive overview of the fundamentals, state-of-the-art, challenges, and future trends in the field of high-frequency transistor modeling. Linear, as well as noise and nonlinear operations, are dealt with. The importance of microwave transistor modeling comes from the fact that the transistor is the key component in high-frequency circuits that are at the heart of modern wireless communication systems, such as mobile telephony. We are currently witnessing a proliferation of wireless communication applications and continuous progress in transistor technologies that make high-frequency transistor modeling a hot topic of great interest.

Keywords

Circuit design; Equivalent circuit model; GaAs; GaN; High-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT); Microwave measurements; Modeling; Noise parameters

Chapter Outline

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Microwave Transistor Technologies 2

1.3 Transistor Modeling 7

1.4 Small-Signal Modeling 9

1.5 Noise Modeling 18

1.6 Large-Signal Modeling 20

Acknowledgments 34

References 34

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the project PON 01_01322 PANREX with financial support by Italian MIUR, FWO — Vlaanderen (Belgium), Hercules, and EMRP “HF Circuits” project.

1.1 Introduction

Microwave transistor modeling is an evergreen research field of paramount importance. The significant interest around this topic comes from the fact that the transistor is the key component in high-frequency circuits that are at the heart of modern wireless communication systems, such as mobile telephony. To meet the more and more stringent requirements of wireless communication systems, transistor technologies are incessantly progressing. Hence, the need for exploiting emerging technologies at their best makes microwave transistor modeling an open research field in continuous evolution.

This first chapter is meant to give a comprehensive overview of the fundamentals, state-of-the-art, challenges, and future trends in the field of microwave transistor modeling, going from linear (also noise) to nonlinear operation.

The chapter is structured into six main sections, including this introduction. The next section is devoted to the microwave transistor technologies. Of the various microwave transistors, the analysis of the present chapter is focused on the high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT). Hence, the physical structure and the operation principles of this microwave active solid state device are concisely reviewed. In particular, transistors fabricated using both gallium-arsenide and gallium-nitride materials are theoretically and experimentally investigated to highlight pros and cons of each technology. The third section is dedicated to the transistor modeling at high frequencies. The attention is focused on the extraction of equivalent circuit models, which represent a good compromise between physical and behavioral models. In fact, the equivalent circuit model provides indispensable feedback to device technologists for advancing the transistor fabrication process and is a valuable tool to circuit designers for optimizing circuit performance. The bottom-up approach for equivalent-circuit-based modeling is discussed, starting with a description of how to extract a small-signal model in the fourth section, before moving on to its use as a cornerstone to develop both noise and large-signal models in the fifth and sixth sections, respectively.

1.2 Microwave Transistor Technologies

The first demonstration of a field-effect transistor (FET) using a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in a potential quantum well as the active channel was made in 1980 [1,2]. This type of transistor was named HEMT by the Japanese researchers at Fujitsu Laboratories. Although HEMT is the most popular name, other terms describing its basic operation principle have been proposed by other research groups working on developing this new type of transistor. Examples...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contributors
• About the Editors
• Foreword by Charles F. Campbell
• Foreword by Ramesh K. Gupta
• Preface
• Chapter 1: Microwave transistor modeling
• Chapter 2: Radio frequency and microwave linear and nonlinear characterization
• Chapter 3: Nonlinear analysis and design of oscillator circuits
• Chapter 4: Microwave power amplifiers: Design and technology
• Chapter 5: Technology design interaction: System driven technology choices
• Chapter 6: Radio frequency power amplifier for wireless communication
• Chapter 7: Nonlinear applications at the transmitter system level
• Chapter 8: System-level nonideality characterization for compensation
• Index