Courses

The following new courses were taught in Fall 2005 and Spring 2006 respectively. A senior-level undergraduate course on IC design for communication applications will be introduced in the spring of 2007.

Introductory Graduate Course: Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit Design

This is a graduate level course that discusses the design and analysis of RF and analog ICs.  Course contents include a description of noise and distortion in devices and circuits; biasing techniques including voltage references, current sources and biasing for low-noise applications; amplifier design techniques for low noise, variable gain, high output power and high dynamic range; integrated mixers and other frequency converters; rectifier circuits; and integrated oscillators for generating fixed and variable frequencies. Relevant performance metrics and trade-offs are discussed. The optimization of designs for specific processes is also addressed, using examples of implementations in bipolar and CMOS technologies.

Advanced Graduate Course: Analog/RF Integrated Circuit Design

This is an advanced graduate level course that addresses design and implementation issues in transceiver architectures for wireless applications at the RF/analog and mixed-signal levels. The course begins with an introduction to impairments in physical layers such as noise and distortion.  An overview of specialized circuits employed in wireless systems and their relevant metrics is provided. The discussion includes a description of transceivers from RF to baseband and PLL architectures. The emphasis is on integrated solutions in CMOS/Bipolar/BiCMOS technologies. This covers popular implementations such as direct-conversion, low-IF, heterodyne and polar. Choice of architectures, technology trade-offs and partitioning issues between analog and digital sections are considered.  The discussion uses case studies from cellular (GSM, WCDMA) and wireless data systems (WLAN, UWB).
Ranjit Gharpurey
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Texas at Austin








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