A New Self-Healing Methodology for RF Amplifier Circuits Based on Oscillation Principles

This paper proposes a new self-healing methodology for embedded RF amplifiers in RF sub-systems. The proposed methodology is based on oscillation principles in which the device-under-test (DUT) generates its test signature with the help of additional circuitry. In the proposed methodology, the self-generated test signature from the RF amplifier is analyzed by using on-chip resources for testing and controlling its calibration knobs to compensate for multi-parameter variations in the manufacturing process. Thus, the proposed methodology enables self-test and self-calibration/correction of RF amplifiers without the need for an external test stimulus, enabling true self-healing RF designs. The proposed methodology is demonstrated through simulations as well as measurements performed on an RF LNA, which were designed in a commercially-available SiGe BiCMOS process technology.