Design and Modeling of RF ICs for Low-Noise and Low-Power Transceivers

This paper presents four topics for low- noise, low-power applications, namely microwave noise characterization, designs of low-noise amplifiers and low-power mixers, and phase noise modeling for oscillators. In noise characterization, we demonstrate that an improper impedance selection can result in 5% uncertainty in the measured noise parameters. For low-power applications, an input matching with a series inductive topology for an LNA and substrate- biased switches in a mixer are suitable for low-power applications. Finally, we introduce a non-linear time- varying technique for the phase noise modeling.