- Docente: Diego Masotti
- Credits: 6
- SSD: ING-INF/02
- Language: Italian
- Moduli: Diego Masotti (Modulo 1) Andrea Neri (Modulo 2)
- Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures (Modulo 1) Traditional lectures (Modulo 2)
- Campus: Cesena
- Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering for Energy (cod. 8770)
Learning outcomes
At the end of the lessons, the student will know the tools needed for analysis and design of circuits and subsystems of modern RF and microwave front-ends. He/she will also know the effects of nonlinearities on front-ends behavior and the suitable CAD tools for their accurate characterization. The student will learn how to obtain the front-end energy autonomy by exploiting the incoming radio waves and possible applications in the RF identification (RFID) field.
Course contents
- Front-end architecture and main functional blocks: examples of typical mobile phones front-end architecture .
- Importance of Computer-Aided Design (CAD) on nonlinear radifrequency circuits .
- Nonlinear circuits: Volterra series; main nonlinear phenomena: harmonic generation, saturation, intermodualtion distortion, cross-modulation; structure of typical spectra.
- Harmonc-Balance (HB) Method: nodal and piecewise formulation; general scheme of the method; Newton-Raphson algorithm for the resolution of the HB nonlinear system.
- Network functions of nonlinear circuits.
- Modulation-oriented Harmonic-Balance (MHB) Method for the analysis of nonlinear circuits under digitally modulated excitation.
- CAD of nonlinear circuits (deterministic design): design by means of cascaded analyses; design goals; optimization algorithms; narrow- and broad-band design.
- Statitical design: dependance of circuit performance on random parameters; concepì of yield; statistical design by beans of yield optimization.
- Low noise amplifiers: gain, stability and noise.
- Power amplifiers: different classes; nonlinear effects; CAD.
- Mixers: balanced mixers; image-rejection mixers; single-side band mixers.
- Oscillators: start-up conditions and oscillating conditions.; CAD.
- Use of the learning outcomes for RF energy harvesting and wireless power transfer solutions
- Laboratory: analysis and optimization of realistic radifrequency circuit by means of commercial software tools.
Readings/Bibliography
Copy of lecture slides
Suggested texts: “Nonlinear microwave circuitsâ€; Stephen A. Maas; Artech House.
Assessment methods
Oral examination
Teaching tools
Circuit and electromagnetic software tools
Links to further information
http://www.dei.unibo.it/en/research/research-facilities/Labs/rfcal-rf-circuit-and-antenna-design-lab
Office hours
See the website of Diego Masotti
See the website of Andrea Neri