In this thesis work, a 3-stage ultra broadband amplifier operating in 2-18 GHz frequency band with gain 23 dB is designed, simulated and fabricated. The amplifier is based on cascaded, reactively terminated single stage distributed amplifier (CRTSSDA) concept. The idea of including reactive terminations to achieve broadband gain is investigasted and simulated. The simulated design is fabricated and measurements of the fabricated amplifier are compared with simulation results. Also practical experience on working at high frequencies with surface mount components is presented in this thesis work.

The advancement in integrated circuit (IC) technology has resulted in scaling down of device sizes and supply voltages without proportionally scaling down the threshold voltage of the MOS transistor. This, coupled with the increasing demand for low power, portable, battery-operated electronic devices, like mobile phones, and laptops provides the impetus for further research towards achieving higher integration on chip and low power consumption. High gain, wide bandwidth amplifiers driving large capacitive loads serve as error amplifiers in low-voltage low drop out regulators in portable devices. This demands low power, low area, and frequency-compensated multistage amplifiers capable of driving large capacitive loads. The first part of the research proposes two power and area efficient frequency compensation schemes: Single Miller Capacitor Compensation (SMC) and Single Miller Capacitor Feedforward Compensation (SMFFC), for multistage amplifiers driving large capacitive loads. The designs have been implemented in a 0.5??m CMOS process. Experimental results show that the SMC and SMFFC amplifiers achieve gain-bandwidth products of 4.6MHz and 9MHz, respectively, when driving a load of 25Kδ/120pF. Each amplifier operates from a ??1V supply, dissipates less than 0.42mW of power and occupies less than 0.02mm2 of silicon area. The inception of the latest IEEE standard like IEEE 802.16 wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN) for 10 -66 GHz range demands wide band amplifiers operating at high frequencies to serve as front-end circuits (e.g. low noise amplifier) in such receiver architectures. Devices used in cascade (multistage amplifiers) can be used to increase the gain but it is achieved at an expense of bandwidth. Distributing the capacitance associated with the input and the output of the device over a ladder structure (which is periodic), rather than considering it to be lumped can achieve an extension of bandwidth without sacrificing gain. This concept which is also known as distributed amplification has been explored in the second part of the research. This work proposes certain guidelines for the design of distributed low noise amplifiers operating at very high frequencies. Noise analysis of the distributed amplifier with real transmission lines is introduced. The analysis for gain and noise figure is verified with simulation results from a 5-stage distributed amplifier implemented in a 0.18??m CMOS process.

Recently, there have been a great interest in the millimeter-wave (mmW) and terahertz (THz) bands due to the unique features they provide for various applications. For example, the mmW is not significantly affected by the atmospheric constraints and it can penetrate through clothing and other dielectric materials. Therefore, it is suitable for a vast range of imaging applications such as vision, safety, health, environmental studies, security and non-destructive testing. Millimeter-wave imaging systems have been conventionally used for high end applications implementing sophisticated and expensive technologies. Recent advancements in the silicon integrated and low loss material passive technologies have created a great opportunity to study the feasibility of low cost mmW imaging systems. However, there are several challenges to be addressed first. Examples are modeling of active and passive devices and their low performance, highly attenuated channel and poor signal to noise ratio in the mmW. The main objective of this thesis is to investigate and develop new technologies enabling cost-effective implementation of mmW and sub-mmW imaging systems. To achieve this goal, an integrated active Rotman lens architecture is proposed as an ultimate solution to combine the unique properties of a Rotman lens with the superiority of CMOS technology for fabrication of cost effective integrated mmW systems. However, due to the limited sensitivity of on-chip detectors in the mmW, a large number of high gain, wide-band and miniaturized mmW Low Noise Amplifiers (LNA) are required to implement the proposed integrated Rotman lens architecture. A unique solution presented in this thesis is the novel Band Pass Distributed Amplifier (BPDA) topology. In this new topology, by short circuiting the line terminations in a Conventional Distributed Amplifier (CDA), standing waves are created in its artificial transmission lines. Conventionally, standing waves are strongly avoided by carefully matching these lines to 50 ?? in order to prevent instability of the amplifier. This causes that a large portion of the signal be absorbed in these resistive terminations. In this thesis, it is shown that due to presence of highly lossy parasitics of CMOS transistor at the mmW the amplifier stability is inherently achieved. Moreover, by eliminating these lossy and noise terminations in the CDA, the amplifier gain is boosted and its noise figure is reduced. In addition, a considerable decrease in the number of elements enables low power realization of many amplifiers in a small chip area. Using the lumped element model of the transistor, the transfer function of a single stage BPDAs is derived and compared to its conventional counter part. A methodology to design a single stage BPDA to achieve all the design goals is presented. Using the presented design guidelines, amplifiers for different mmW frequencies have been designed, fabricated and tested. Using only 4 transistors, a 60 GHz amplifier is fabricated on a very small chip area of 0.105 mm2 by a low-cost 130 nm CMOS technology. A peak gain of 14.7 dB and a noise figure of 6 dB are measured for this fabricated amplifier. oreover, it is shown that by further circuit optimization, high gain amplification can be realized at frequencies above the cut-off frequency of the transistor. Simulations show 32 and 28 dB gain can be obtained by implementing only 6 transistors using this CMOS technology at 60 and 77 GHz. A 4-stage 85 GHz amplifier is also designed and fabricated and a measured gain of 10 dB at 82 GHz is achieved with a 3 dB bandwidth of 11 GHz from 80 to 91 GHz. A good agreement between the simulated and measured results verifies the accuracy of the design procedure. In addition, a multi-stage wide-band BPDA has been designed to show the ability of the proposed topology for design of wide band mmW amplifiers using the CMOS technology. Simulated gain of 20.5 dB with a considerable 3 dB bandwidth of 38 GHz from 30 to 68 GHz is achieved while the noise figure is less than 6 dB in the whole bandwidth. An amplifier figure of merit is defined in terms of gain, noise figure, chip area, band width and power consumption. The results are compared to those of the state of the art to demonstrate the advantages of the proposed circuit topology and presented design techniques. Finally, a Rotman lens is designed and optimized by choosing a very small Focal Lens Ratio (FL), and a high measured efficiency of greater than 30% is achieved while the lens dimensions are less than 6 mm. The lens is designed and implemented using a low cost Alumina substrate and conventional microstrip lines to ease its integration with the active parts of the system.

Esta dissertação propõe uma metodologia de projeto de osciladores distribuídos controlados por tensão - DVCO - com realimentação reversa em freqüência de microondas. Estes constituem uma nova classe de osciladores recentemente proposta, a qual é obtida através da realimentação reversa de amplificadores distribuídos e tem como principal vantagem a possibilidade de sintonia em faixa ultra-larga de freqüência. São apresentados os fundamentos teóricos de operação do circuito e é proposta uma extensão da análise linear apresentada na literatura, considerando linhas de transmissão artificiais m-derivadas, a qual permite prever as transcondutâncias mínimas necessárias dos transistores e a freqüência inicial de oscilação. O método de projeto proposto é direcionado a DVCOs com realimentação reversa empregando transistores de efeito de campo dos tipos MESFET (Metal Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) e PHEMT (Pseudomorfic High Electron Mobility Transistor), bem como ao uso de tecnologia de circuitos híbridos de microondas - MICs, e circuitos integrados monolíticos de microondas - MMICs. A metodologia proposta definiu critérios para implementar a topologia deste circuito através de componentes reais, considerando-se os parasitas associados aos mesmos. Para validação do procedimento de projeto, concebeu-se e simulou-se através do programa ADS da Agilent um oscilador intitulado DVCO 3 GHz, cuja faixa de freqüência especificada estende-se de 1 a 3 GHz e a potência mínima de saída especificada é de 10 dBm. Um protótipo foi construído em circuito híbrido e seus resultados experimentais foram comparados aos simulados. A freqüência de oscilação medida foi de 1,04 GHz a 3,05 GHz e a potência obtida esteve entre 9,8 e 14,3 dBm, apresentando boa concordância com as simulações. O ruído de fase foi medido entre 100 kHz e 1 MHz de distância da portadora, observando-se uma inclinação proporcional a 1/f3. Verificou-se que a diminuição da corrente de polarização Ids dos transistores, através da redução de sua tensão de polarização de porta-fonte Vgs, melhorou o ruído de fase. Na condição de polarização de menor ruído de fase, observaram-se valores entre -84 e -93 dBc/Hz a 100 kHz da portadora. / In this dissertation, a design methodology applied to microwave reverse feedback distributed voltage controlled oscillators - DVCO - is proposed. This circuit constitutes a new class of oscillators, obtained from reverse feeding back of the distributed amplifier. The main advantage of this topology is its capacity to achieve ultra-wideband frequency tuning. Circuit theoretical background is presented and an extension of the linear analysis presented in the literature is proposed. It allows predicting transistor minimum transconductances and the oscillation initial frequency, considering m-derived artificial transmission lines. The proposed design method is applicable to reverse feedback DVCOs employing field effect transistors MESFET (Metal Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) and PHEMT (Pseudomorfic High Electron Mobility Transistor), as well as using MIC (Microwave Integrated Circuits) and MMIC (Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits) technology. The proposed methodology defined criterion to employ real components, considering the component parasitics. In order to validate the design method, an oscillator named DVCO 3 GHz was designed and simulated through software Agilent ADS, with specified band from 1 up to 3 GHz and minimum output power of 10 dBm. A prototype was implemented in hybrid circuit technology and the measurements were compared to the simulation results. The measured oscillation frequency varied from 1,04 GHz up to 3,05 GHz and the output power was 9,8 to 14,3 dBm, presenting good agreement with simulations. Phase noise was measured in the range between 100 kHz and 1 MHz shift from carrier; in which it was observed a 1/f3 slope. It was verified that decreasing the transistor bias current Ids through decreasing its gate bias voltage Vgs reduced phase noise. In the biasing condition for lowest phase noise, values between -84 and -93 dBc/Hz at 100 kHz off-set from carrier were measured.

Esta dissertação propõe uma metodologia de projeto de osciladores distribuídos controlados por tensão - DVCO - com realimentação reversa em freqüência de microondas. Estes constituem uma nova classe de osciladores recentemente proposta, a qual é obtida através da realimentação reversa de amplificadores distribuídos e tem como principal vantagem a possibilidade de sintonia em faixa ultra-larga de freqüência. São apresentados os fundamentos teóricos de operação do circuito e é proposta uma extensão da análise linear apresentada na literatura, considerando linhas de transmissão artificiais m-derivadas, a qual permite prever as transcondutâncias mínimas necessárias dos transistores e a freqüência inicial de oscilação. O método de projeto proposto é direcionado a DVCOs com realimentação reversa empregando transistores de efeito de campo dos tipos MESFET (Metal Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) e PHEMT (Pseudomorfic High Electron Mobility Transistor), bem como ao uso de tecnologia de circuitos híbridos de microondas - MICs, e circuitos integrados monolíticos de microondas - MMICs. A metodologia proposta definiu critérios para implementar a topologia deste circuito através de componentes reais, considerando-se os parasitas associados aos mesmos. Para validação do procedimento de projeto, concebeu-se e simulou-se através do programa ADS da Agilent um oscilador intitulado DVCO 3 GHz, cuja faixa de freqüência especificada estende-se de 1 a 3 GHz e a potência mínima de saída especificada é de 10 dBm. Um protótipo foi construído em circuito híbrido e seus resultados experimentais foram comparados aos simulados. A freqüência de oscilação medida foi de 1,04 GHz a 3,05 GHz e a potência obtida esteve entre 9,8 e 14,3 dBm, apresentando boa concordância com as simulações. O ruído de fase foi medido entre 100 kHz e 1 MHz de distância da portadora, observando-se uma inclinação proporcional a 1/f3. Verificou-se que a diminuição da corrente de polarização Ids dos transistores, através da redução de sua tensão de polarização de porta-fonte Vgs, melhorou o ruído de fase. Na condição de polarização de menor ruído de fase, observaram-se valores entre -84 e -93 dBc/Hz a 100 kHz da portadora. / In this dissertation, a design methodology applied to microwave reverse feedback distributed voltage controlled oscillators - DVCO - is proposed. This circuit constitutes a new class of oscillators, obtained from reverse feeding back of the distributed amplifier. The main advantage of this topology is its capacity to achieve ultra-wideband frequency tuning. Circuit theoretical background is presented and an extension of the linear analysis presented in the literature is proposed. It allows predicting transistor minimum transconductances and the oscillation initial frequency, considering m-derived artificial transmission lines. The proposed design method is applicable to reverse feedback DVCOs employing field effect transistors MESFET (Metal Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) and PHEMT (Pseudomorfic High Electron Mobility Transistor), as well as using MIC (Microwave Integrated Circuits) and MMIC (Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits) technology. The proposed methodology defined criterion to employ real components, considering the component parasitics. In order to validate the design method, an oscillator named DVCO 3 GHz was designed and simulated through software Agilent ADS, with specified band from 1 up to 3 GHz and minimum output power of 10 dBm. A prototype was implemented in hybrid circuit technology and the measurements were compared to the simulation results. The measured oscillation frequency varied from 1,04 GHz up to 3,05 GHz and the output power was 9,8 to 14,3 dBm, presenting good agreement with simulations. Phase noise was measured in the range between 100 kHz and 1 MHz shift from carrier; in which it was observed a 1/f3 slope. It was verified that decreasing the transistor bias current Ids through decreasing its gate bias voltage Vgs reduced phase noise. In the biasing condition for lowest phase noise, values between -84 and -93 dBc/Hz at 100 kHz off-set from carrier were measured.

In this thesis work, a new distributed amplifier topology is discussed and applied to three different cases. The topology is based on dividing the frequency spectrum into channels and amplifying afterwards. The channelized and amplified signals are then combined at the output for broadband amplification. This topology is used in the design of a three channel 0.1-1 GHz amplifier with a gain of 14.5&plusmn / 0.6 dB. The design is fabricated, and then the measured and simulated results are compared. A second 0.1-1 GHz amplifier with 21&plusmn / 1 dB is designed in simulation environment with five channels. This five channel amplifier is fabricated and measured results are compared with the simulated ones. A 1-6 GHz three channel amplifier is also designed with a gain of 10.5&plusmn / 0.5 dB. Application of the proposed topology to three different designs shows promising results for future amplifier designs.

Ces dernières années, le développement durable, notamment le contrôle de la consommation de nos appareils électriques, est devenu un enjeu majeur de notre société. L'essor de la domotique associé à cette problématique implique la nécessité d'optimiser le bilan énergétique de chaque dispositif électrique. L'objectif de cette thèse est la réalisation d'un amplificateur faible bruit (LNA) qui propose deux modes de fonctionnement suivant la qualité du signal reçu: un mode haute performance et un mode basse consommation.Afin de satisfaire la problématique liée aux systèmes multistandard, l'architecture sélectionnée pour l'amplificateur faible bruit est la topologie distribuée. En effet, elle est connue pour ses performances en terme de bande passante et permet un gain en puissance accordable. Une méthode de conception est proposée, basée sur la technologie GaAs de la fonderie TriQuint Semiconducteur Texas. Les mesures réalisées sur le LNA dans sa configuration haute performance se situe au niveau de l'état de l'art. Pour le mode basse consommation, on obtient de bonnes performances tout en réduisant sa consommation de 91%.Enfin, une stratégie de reconfiguration innovante est proposée basée sur l'intégration de notre LNA dans un récepteur homodyne. Elle permet de réduire de manière significative la consommation du récepteur, dans le cas où la puissance reçue permet un fonctionnement en mode basse consommation (contraintes sur le Bit Error Rate (BER) vérifiées). En considérant chaque puissance reçue de manière équiprobable, notre récepteur reconfigurable a une consommation réduite de 77% par rapport à un récepteur classique qui possède un seul mode de fonctionnement (mode haute performance). / In recent years, the sustainable development, especially the control of the electrical appliances' consumption, has became a major issue in our society. The optimisation of each electrical devices' energy is needed to reduce the consumption of home appliances. The objective of this thesis is the realization of a low noise amplifier (LNA) that offers two modes of operation depending on the quality of the received signal: a high performance mode and a low consumption mode.In order to meet the problem related to multistandard systems, the distributed architecture is selected for low noise amplifier. Indeed, it is known for its wide bandwidth and tunable power gain. A design method is proposed, which is based on GaAs technology of TriQuint Semiconductor Texas foundry. The LNA's high performance mode measurement results is at the level of the state of the art. For the low consumption mode, LNA shows good performance while reducing power consumption by 91%.Finally, an innovative reconfiguration strategy is defined. It's applied to a homodyne receiver based on the integration of our LNA. It reduces significantely the receiver's consumption in case where the received power allows the receiver operates in low power mode (constraint of the Bit Error Rate (BER) is verified). Considering each received power is equiprobable, our reconfigurable receiver saves consumption by 77% compared to a conventional receiver that has a single mode (high performance mode).

Microwave limiting amplifiers are the key components of Instantaneous Frequency Measurement (IFM) systems. Limiting amplifiers provide constant output power level in a wide input dynamic range and over a broad frequency band. Moreover, limiting amplifiers are high gain devices that are used to bring very low input power levels to a constant output power level. Besides, limiting amplifiers are required to provide minimum small signal gain ripple in order not to reduce the sensitivity of the IFM system over the operating frequency band. In this thesis work, a high gain, medium power, 2-18 GHz limiting amplifier module is designed, simulated, fabricated and measured. First, a 3-stage cascaded amplifier with 27 dB small signal gain is designed and fabricated. The 3-stage amplifier is composed of a novel cascaded combination of negative feedback and distributed amplifiers that provides the minimum small signal gain ripple and satisfactory input and output return losses inside 2-18 GHz frequency band. Then, the designed two 3-stage amplifiers and one 4-stage amplifier are cascaded to constitute a limiting amplifier module with minimum 80 dB small signal gain. The designed 10-stage limiting amplifier module also includes an analog voltage controllable attenuator to be used for compensating the gain variations resulting from temperature changes. The fabricated 10-stage limiting amplifier module provides 20 +/- 1.2 dBm output power level and excellent small signal gain flatness, +/- 2.2 dB, over 2-18 GHz frequency range.

Multipath amplifier theory: In this thesis it is proven that the theoretical minimum noise measure of a multipath amplifier (an amplifier which has multiple parallel amplifiers) is achieved by using the optimum source impedance for the amplifier and the optimum gain for each amplification path. This optimum source impedance and gain can be calculated by using the optimum–loaded input network, i.e. by replacing each amplifier with its optimum source impedance. The resulting noise measure is the same as the minimum noise measure of the amplifiers used in the amplification paths. Whereas single–path amplifiers can achieve this minimum noise measure over narrow bandwidths, multipath amplifiers are theoretically able to achieve the minimum noise measure over very broad bandwidths. The theory is demonstrated by applying it to distributed amplifiers. In an ideal distributed amplifier, the magnitude of the optimum gain of the amplification paths decreases and the phase delay increases the farther the stage is from the input, with the decrease in gain being faster for higher frequencies. The challenge in designing broadband, low–noise, distributed amplifiers is to achieve optimum gain matching over broad bandwidths. Multipath amplifier design procedure: Based on the theory, a three step design and optimisation procedure is introduced. Firstly, unconditionally stable amplification paths are designed to have small minimum noise measures, then an input network is designed for optimum source impedance matching and lastly an output network is designed for gain matching. Multipath amplifier prototype: The theory and design procedure is demonstrated by optimising a 0.5–2 GHz distributed amplifier. An average noise measure of 0.3 dB is achieved, which is only 0.1 dB higher than the minimum noise measure of the amplification stages used. This increase is mainly due to transmission line loss and gain mismatch. Radio telescope feasibility: Multipath amplifiers break the trade–off between noise temperature, bandwidth and source termination that a single–path amplifier has, because they have much more design freedom when designing the input network. In general, the more paths, the larger the low–noise bandwidth, but the larger and more complex the amplifier. Roughly two to three amplification paths are required per octave of bandwidth for LNAs around 1 GHz. When the bandwidth is very narrow, a single path is sufficient. Multipath amplifiers have similar trade–offs between linearity and power consumption, between noise temperature and noise resistance, and between noise temperature and size to a single–path amplifier. Multipath amplifiers are therefore a feasible alternative for use in radio telescopes. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Space Physics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Multipath amplifier theory: In this thesis it is proven that the theoretical minimum noise measure of a multipath amplifier (an amplifier which has multiple parallel amplifiers) is achieved by using the optimum source impedance for the amplifier and the optimum gain for each amplification path. This optimum source impedance and gain can be calculated by using the optimum–loaded input network, i.e. by replacing each amplifier with its optimum source impedance. The resulting noise measure is the same as the minimum noise measure of the amplifiers used in the amplification paths. Whereas single–path amplifiers can achieve this minimum noise measure over narrow bandwidths, multipath amplifiers are theoretically able to achieve the minimum noise measure over very broad bandwidths. The theory is demonstrated by applying it to distributed amplifiers. In an ideal distributed amplifier, the magnitude of the optimum gain of the amplification paths decreases and the phase delay increases the farther the stage is from the input, with the decrease in gain being faster for higher frequencies. The challenge in designing broadband, low–noise, distributed amplifiers is to achieve optimum gain matching over broad bandwidths. Multipath amplifier design procedure: Based on the theory, a three step design and optimisation procedure is introduced. Firstly, unconditionally stable amplification paths are designed to have small minimum noise measures, then an input network is designed for optimum source impedance matching and lastly an output network is designed for gain matching. Multipath amplifier prototype: The theory and design procedure is demonstrated by optimising a 0.5–2 GHz distributed amplifier. An average noise measure of 0.3 dB is achieved, which is only 0.1 dB higher than the minimum noise measure of the amplification stages used. This increase is mainly due to transmission line loss and gain mismatch. Radio telescope feasibility: Multipath amplifiers break the trade–off between noise temperature, bandwidth and source termination that a single–path amplifier has, because they have much more design freedom when designing the input network. In general, the more paths, the larger the low–noise bandwidth, but the larger and more complex the amplifier. Roughly two to three amplification paths are required per octave of bandwidth for LNAs around 1 GHz. When the bandwidth is very narrow, a single path is sufficient. Multipath amplifiers have similar trade–offs between linearity and power consumption, between noise temperature and noise resistance, and between noise temperature and size to a single–path amplifier. Multipath amplifiers are therefore a feasible alternative for use in radio telescopes. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Space Physics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.