Transmitter architectures and system design

S-87.4193 Postgraduate Course in Electronic Circuit Design

Multi-mode Transceiver IC Design

18. 01. 2007

Liangge Xu lxu@ecdl.hut.fi

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 Outline
n Transmitter basics
n Transmitter architectures
– Quadrature architectures
– Polar architectures
n Examples
n Summary
n References
n homework

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 Transmitter basics
n A radio transmitter produces an RF output modulated by the
transmitted data
– Three functions: modulation, upconversion and power amplification
n Digital modulation are almost exclusively used
n The carrier frequency depends on the channel in the TX
frequency band
n The transmit power has to be large to overcome the rapid
attenuation of EM waves over distance

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 Transmitter basics

n A transmitter should not interfere the transmission over other channels

– Transmitted spectrum must conform to the corresponding TX mask
n The accuracy of transmitted modulation must be sufficient for reliable
detection
– Accuracy is often specified as error vector magnitude (EVM)
n Power efficiency is another important figure of merit for a transmitter

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 Transmitter basics
n Multi-mode operation poses new challenges
– The transmitter must deal with different modulation schemes
– Configurability and modulation agility become necessary

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 A generic transmitter

n Baseband signal is digitally filtered to shape the transmitted spectrum

n DAC conversion is typically required at the baseband interface to convert
the signal into analog domain
– Post-filtering is necessary to mitigate the Sinc-distortion
n Modulation can be done using different approaches, and has a large
impact on transmitter architecture
n Power amplifier is typically implemented on a separate ship
n PA/antenna interface depends on the duplexing (TDD or FDD)

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 Transmitter architectures
n Transmitter architectures can be classified according to the
modulator implementation
– Quadrature architecture : I/Q components of the signal are modulated
separately and then combined

– Polar architecture: the magnitude and phase of the signal are

modulated separately and then combined

– Its possible to combine the two types of architectures to form a hybrid

one[9]

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 Transmitter architectures
n Quadrature architecture
– Super-heterodyne (two-step conversion)
– direct conversion (homodyne)

n Polar architecture
– Polar lite
– direct polar
– polar loop

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 Super-heterodyne transmitter
n Signal is modulated at an IF and subsequently upconverted
to the transmit frequency by a mixer
n An IF filter is needed to eliminate the LO harmonics after
the modulation
n An RF filter is required at the mixer output to remove the
unwanted sideband

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 Super-heterodyne transmitter
n Advantages
– PA output spectrum is far away from LO frequencies
– I/Q modulator works at IF
– Possible gain control can be employed at IF

n Disadvantages
– Significant amount of circuitry and low integration level
– It requires a PA with good linearity
– Multi-mode implementation is difficult

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 Super-heterodyne transmitter
n PLL-offset technique can be used for frequency upconversion

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 Direct conversion transmitter
n Baseband signal is directly modulated to RF
n RF filter may be required to suppress the noise floor in the
receiver band (for example in case of GSM application)
n Advantages
– Simplicity with minimum amount of circuitry
– ease for high level integration
n Disadvantages
– Oscillator pulling by PA
– Carrier leakage
– Phase gain mismatch
– Gain control may need to
be done at RF
– It requires PA with good linearity

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 Direct conversion transmitter
n Offset-LO technique can be used to alleviate the oscillator
pulling problem

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 Linearization techniques
n Linear modulation is a continuing trend for new wireless
systems
– Linear modulation achieves higher spectral efficiency
– Information in both amplitude and phase

n Linear modulation is challenging for quadrature transmitters

– Linear modulation requires a linear transmitter
– PA needs to be nonlinear for power efficiency

n Linearization techniques can alleviate the problem but they

are not sufficient

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Linearization techniques

Feedforward Cartesian Feedback

Adaptive predistortion LINC

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 Polar lite transmitter
n Both amplitude and phase modulation are done prior to PA
n Attractive for GSM/EDGE applications
– Easy to combine with the traditional phase-only architecture
– Allows for digital intensive implementation
n Power efficiency is still a question
n Time alignment of AM and PM paths is required

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 Direct polar transmitter
n Amplitude modulation directly applied to PA
n Power efficiency is higher than the best linear transmitters
n Relative circuit simplicity
n It requires PVT calibration and PA characterization within the
transmitter

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 Polar loop transmitter
n Closed-loop feedback control used for both phase and
amplitude
n Power efficiency potentially higher than the best linear TX
n Resistant to PVT variations and no need for PA
characterization
n Feedback substantially increases the complexity

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 Direct conversion example
n Direct conversion architecture[8]
n Targeted application : WCDMA
n 0.13um CMOS process with 1.5V
supply
n Core area : 2.1
n Power Consumption: 68mW with
maximum output power 2.5dBm
n Fully UTMS(WCDMA) compliant

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 Polar lite example
n Polar lite architecture with digital
implementation [6]
n Targeted application: GSM/EDGE
n 90nm CMOS technology, 1.2V
supply
n Die occupancy area: 1.2
n Power consumption :
42mA @16dBm output power
n Fully GSM/Edge compliant
without external SAW filter
– GSM rms phase error : 0.5deg
(allowed 5deg)
– Measured EDGE EVM : 1.2%
(allowed 9%)

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 Polar loop example
n Polar loop architecture [7]
n Targeted applications: GSM/GPRS/EDGE
n 0.35-um BiCMOS process with 2.7V supply for the transceiver
and PA controller
n Two chips in addition to PA
– Transceiver : 5X4
– PA controller : 2X2
n Power consumption
– 170mA by the transceiver
and PA controller
– PA efficiency :
54% in GSM mode @33dBm
37% in EDGE mode @27dBm

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 Summary
n A transmitter performs signal modulation, frequency
conversion and power amplification
n Existing transmitter architectures can be classified into two
categories, quadrature transmitters and polar transmitters
n Quadrature transmitters face a dilemma between spectral
efficiency and power efficiency
n Polar transmitters are potentially better for multi-mode
operations due to its capability to deliver high spectral
efficiency and power efficiency simultaneously
n There are still barriers preventing polar transmitters from
widespread adoption

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 References
[1] B. Razavi, et al, “RF Transmitter Architectures and Circuits, ”IEEE, 1999
[2] A. Loke, “Direct conversion radio for digital mobile phones –design issues, status, and
trends, ”IEEE, 2002
[3] P. Zhang, et al, “A 5-GHz Direct-Conversion CMOS Transceiver”, IEEE, 2003
[4] E. McCune, “High-efficiency, multi-mode, multi-band terminal power amplifiers,”IEEE, 2005
[5] E. McCune, “Polar modulation and bipolar RF power devices,”IEEE, 2005
[6] R.B. Staszewski et al, “All digital-PLL and transmitter for mobile phones,”IEEE, 2006
[7] T. Sowlati, “Quad band GSM/GSM/GPRS polar loop transmitter,”IEEE, 2004
[8] G. Brenna et al, “A 2-GHz carrier leakage calibrated direct-conversion WCDMA transmitter in
0.13-um CMOS,”IEEE, 2004
[9] J.K. Jau et al, “Highly efficient multimode RF transmitter using the hybrid quadrature polar
modulation scheme,”IEEE, 2006

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 Homework
n Describe the main features of the presented transmitter
architectures (100 ~ 200 words expected)

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