Title :
Monolithic transformers for silicon RF IC design
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Toronto Univ., Ont., Canada
Abstract :
A comprehensive review of the electrical performance of passive transformers fabricated in silicon IC technology is presented. Two types of transformer construction are considered in detail, and the characteristics of two-port (1:1 and 1:n turns ratio) and multiport transformers (i.e., baluns) are presented from both computer simulation and experimental measurements. The effects of parasitics and imperfect coupling between transformer windings are outlined from the circuit point of view. Resonant tuning is shown to reduce the losses between input and output at the expense of operating bandwidth. A procedure for estimating the size of a monolithic transformer to meet a given specification is outlined, and circuit examples are used to illustrate the applications of the monolithic transformer in RF ICs.
Keywords :
UHF integrated circuits; baluns; elemental semiconductors; equivalent circuits; frequency response; high-frequency transformers; integrated circuit design; integrated circuit modeling; silicon; Si; Si RF IC design; computer simulation; electrical performance; imperfect coupling; losses reduction; monolithic transformers; multiport transformers; operating bandwidth; parasitics; passive transformers; resonant tuning; transformer windings; two-port transformers; Computer simulation; Coupling circuits; Impedance matching; Monolithic integrated circuits; Radio frequency; Radiofrequency integrated circuits; Resonance; Silicon; Transformers; Windings;
Journal_Title :
Solid-State Circuits, IEEE Journal of
