Instructor - Ali Niknejad, University of California, Berkeley

4 Semester Credit Hours

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.

Prerequisites

Expected participant background: Elementary or introductory course (or the equivalent) in the design of analog circuits; this course would include some/all of the following: Single and multiple stage transistor amplifiers.  Operational amplifiers. Feedback amplifiers, 2-port formulation; source, load, and feedback network loading.  Frequency response of cascaded amplifiers gain-bandwidth exchange, compensation, dominant pole techniques, root locus.  Supply and temperature independent biasing and references.  Selected applications of analog circuits such as analog-to-digital converters, switched capacitor filters, and comparators. Some hands on experience and help with the use of computer aided design tools such as SPICE. Elementary or introductory course (or the equivalent) in microelectronic devices and circuits; this course would include the following: Fundamental circuit and device concepts needed to understand analog integrated circuits

Objectives

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

Course Topics

• 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.