NEEI-6361 Integrated Circuits for Communications (IC 574)

Note: The following provides a suggested course description, objectives, and an outline. These may be modified pending discussion with the Faculty Chairs, proposing faculty, and other curriculum reviewers.

Course Description: This course covers analog circuits for communications, with primary emphasis on non-linear analog integrated circuits. The course begins reviewing transistor devices and the distortion caused by them. More general distortion analysis techniques are then developed, and the various types of distortion are analyzed. The latter portion of the course is an in-depth analysis of non-linear circuits with applications in the communications domain, and the design thereof, including various oscillators, mixers, multipliers, phase-locked loops, detectors, and rectifiers. At the end of the course, the student should have a good understanding of basic distortion analysis techniques, and should demonstrate good fundamentals in the analysis and implementation of non-linear analog circuits for communication applications.

Course Objectives: The course aim is to impart to students the ability to analyze and design, at the circuit level, the basic electronic building blocks of modern communication systems, with an emphasis on radio receivers.

Course Outline by Topical Areas:

• Distortion in amplifiers and its reduction. Harmonic distortion intermodulation, cross-modulation. Effect of feedback on distortion. Sources of distortion in devices.
• Modeling.
• Power amplifiers. Class A,B, AB & C. Integrated circuit realizations. Cross-over distortion. Efficiency. RF power output stages.
• Mixers (frequency converters). Bipolar, FET and IC realizations. Conversion gain and spurious response.
• Oscillator analysis. Amplitude and frequency stability. Waveform distortion. Relaxation oscillators.
• Analog multipliers and phase-locked loops.
• AM and FM detectors.