Transceiver Architectures

EC5701
Dr. Esther Florence S
ASP/DECE
CEG, AU
 Session Meta Data

Author Esther Florence S

Version No 1.1

Release Date 10.10.2023

Reviewer
 Revision History

Date of Revison Details Version Number

 Unit Outline
• Millimeter wave link budget
• Transceiver Architecture
• Transceiver without mixer
• Receiver without local oscillator
• Millimeter wave calibration
• Millimeter wave Antennas
 Session Objectives
 To understand the various transceiver architectures used for
mmwave communication
 Mmwave link budget
• Link Budget - signal-power plan for a system
• Capabilities of the system under specific operating conditions for the standard specified data rates,
ranges, and bit error rates.
• Parameters:
– Path loss , = 68dB
– Average noise power per bit N (dB)
– Average noise power per bit noise figure
– Tolerable path loss PL (dB) =
– Maximum operating range (m)
Where,
is the average Tx power (dBm)
is the Tx antenna gain (dBi)
is the Rx antenna gain (dBi)
S is the minimum signal-to-noise ratio Eb/N0 for the additive white Gaussian noise
(AWGN) channel (dB)
is the shadowing link margin (dB)
I is the implementation loss (dB), including filter distortion, phase noise, and
frequency errors
n is the path loss exponent, subject to scenarios (IEEE 802.15.3c)
Mmwave link budget
Mmwave link budget
 Mmwave link budget
• The input noise of the converter is the thermal noise floor limit,

• Considering the bandwidth into account, the input noise level is

calculated as
 Mmwave link budget

10+12 – (81.98(path loss)+15(reflection loss)) = -74.98

Noise as calculated previously = -81 (2GHz BW)

Component (Gain/Noise) Figures
 Overall Link Budget

22-81.98 = 51.98dB; 15dB reflection loss;

 UWB Antenna Characterization
• Directivity Vs Non Directivity
– High gain or directional antennas concentrate
energy into a narrower solid angle than an
omni-directional antenna
• Electric Vs magnetic
– Electric antennas e.g. dipoles and most horns,
are characterized by intense electric fields
close to the antenna. They include
– Magnetic antennas e.g. loops and slots, are
characterized by intense magnetic fields close to
the antenna
 Antenna Characterization
• Single band Vs multi-Narrow band
– Typical UWB antennas used in the past are multi-narrow
band. Instead they should be designed to receive a single
coherent signal with stable pattern and matching across the
entire operating band
• Dispersive Vs Non Dispersive
– Desire non-dispersive antennas, with a fixed phase center. If
waveform dispersion occurs in a predictable fashion it may be
possible to compensate for it.
• Desire similar waveforms in all directions.
– Log-periodic antennas are dispersive. By contrast, a small
element antenna, like a planar elliptical dipole tends to
radiate a more compact, non-dispersive waveform, similar to
a Gaussian.
 Matching, Spectral Control, TF, RL
• In UWB, a good impedance match must be designed in from
first principles, not added as an afterthought.
• Because of the FCC induced regulations, the spectra of the
pulses radiated by the antenna has to be carefully controlled.
• Transfer Function For UWB antennas, the transfer function is
more important than any of the classical antenna parameters.
The transfer function is the ratio of the output to the input and
depends on the angular position and the frequency of operation
(S parameters)
• Return Loss Another important parameter is the return loss,
which is the ratio of the amplitude of the reflected wave to the
incident wave.
 Antenna Size and Gain
• Particular consideration should therefore be taken
in the design of small antennas, as they are
inefficient by nature and have high quality factor.
• Antenna gain G is defined in terms of antenna
aperture A as fact that electromagnetic energy
readily couples across the radian sphere range,
allows one to establish an approximate bound on
the possible gain from an antenna of a particular
physical cross-sectional area.
 Group Delay
• Group delay, is the measure of a signal transition time through a
device.
• Due to the short period of UWB signals, the impulse response of
the antenna is of particular interest, because it has the ability to
alter or shape the transmitted and/or received pulses.
• The antenna is thus analyzed as a filter by means of magnitude
and phase responses so that we can determine the phase
linearity of its gain response within the frequency band of
interest by looking at its group delay.
• The group delay variation induced by the radiation pattern of the
antenna will affect the overall receiver system performance,
since it can bring relatively large timing errors.
• An antenna gain plot without nulls, means a linear phase
response, hence a constant group delay.
 Mmwave transceiver Design
• Millimeter wave solutions for high data rate transmission at 60 GHz still have to be
determined.
– Design of a 60 GHz radio front-end architecture.
 Superheterodyning architecture
 Direct conversion architecture
 Software radio architecture
 Six-port technology
– Design of antennas
 Superheterodyning architecture
• 60 GHz RF front-end architecture which will be integrated on-chip
solution.
• Requires more components and more DC power-not preferred for
mobile devices.
• Receiving branch
– Receiving antenna, a low noise amplifier, and a mixer that down converts the
signal from millimeter wave range to intermediate frequency (IF)
range
• Transmitting branch
mixer, a power amplifier (PA), and the transmitting antenna.
Patch antennas (integrated) .
The mixers are image rejecting mixers
• Frequency generation function
Superheterodyning architecture
 Superheterodyning architecture
• The IF stage includes one or more local oscillators, one or more
mixers, and one or more adders to step-down the frequency of
the intermediate frequency signals to a base-band frequency.
• The IF stage provides the base-band signal to the demodulator
which, based on the modulation/demodulation protocol,
recaptures the data.
Advantages : Accurate, high performance
Disadvantages:
– Too many components
– BPF occupies large volume
– High power consumption
– Not suitable for handy devices
 Direct Conversion Architecture
• Suited for monolithic integration, due to the lack of image
filtering, and simple architecture
• Challenge - 60 GHz local oscillator is required,
• Frequency shift keying (FSK)-modulated signals more suited -
low-signal energy at DC.
• Homodyne receivers are signal stage frequency converter,
uses the carrier as transmitter to down convert our signal
translating the spectrum to DC.
Direct Conversion Architecture
 Advantages
• It has a simple design, hence reduces the system
complexity.
• There is no image problem due to one step
conversion.
• The channel selection is done by low pass filters.
Low pass filters are on-chip and are active filters.
• It is simple to handle as the mixing spurs are
significantly reduced in number.
• High-selectivity.
 Disadvantages – DC Offset

circuit design - cannot eliminate completely

Suitable modulation scheme which has low spectral density at DC frequency- FSK over
ASK.
orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) – lower DC signal energy.
 Software Radio Architecture
• Less lossy components
• Hardware components like mixers, filters, amplifiers,
modulators/demodulators etc., are implemented by
means of software in computer or embedded systems
• Require ultra high-speed ADC/DAC having 60GHz
bandwidth- which are very expensive at high
frequency
• Doesn't need many mm wave components
 Link Budget Problem
Problem: A geostationary satellite link operates over 35-36 GHz band with a
transmit carrier power of 120 W, transmit antenna gain = 34dB, IF bandwidth =
20MHz, maximum distance 39000kms. The receive antenna gain is 30 dB and
has an effective temperature 100K. The required minimum SNR is 10 dB. Check
for link margin (suggested minimum value is 3dB).

SNR required at the output of the receive antenna is 13 dB

Path loss = = 215.3 dB
= 120 W =50.8 dBm
= 8.91x
SNR =
Hence suggested value of SNR cant be achieved.
To improve SNR:
Power of transmit signal can be increased
Gain of Tx and Rx antenna can be increased
Effective temperature can be reduced