ELT-47266 Active RF Circuits, 5 cr
Additional information
Suitable for postgraduate studies
Person responsible
Olli-Pekka Lunden
Lessons
Implementation 1: ELT-47266 2015-01
| Study type | P1 | P2 | P3 | P4 | Summer |
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Requirements
To pass the course, students need to collect points from various tasks, including homework submissions and a seminar report.There is no exam in this course.
Completion parts must belong to the same implementation
Learning Outcomes
After completing the course, student will understand will be able to apply basic and some advanced RF circuit design concepts. Student will be able to analyze and design active some basic active RF circuits such as RF amplifiers and RF oscillators. In addition, student will have the ability to give a presentation and write a technical report about basic topics in RF electronics.
Content
| Content | Core content | Complementary knowledge | Specialist knowledge |
| 1. | RF transistor amplifiers: Transistor modeling using linear circuit parameters (Y, Z, S and ABCD), small-signal equivalent circuits, and nonlinear ("spice") models. Stability against oscillation. Impedance matching of two-ports, noise figure optimization, linearity. | Matlab RF toolbox, RF circuit simulations. Aspects in practical implementations. | |
| 2. | RF oscillator design: modeling an oscillator as 1) a positive feedback amplifier and 2) as a negative resistance device. Clapp-type (single transistor) and cross-coupled (two-transistor) oscillators. Frequency control using varactors (aka "varicaps" or "capacitance diodes") Crystal oscillators. Design rules-of-thumb and their origins. | Frequency stability, jitter and phase noise. DC-to-RF efficiency. | Oscillator design trade-offs and optimization. |
| 3. | RF mixers: understanding mixer as 1) a circuit made of one or more switches 2) a circuit made of one or more nonlinear components. Active and passive mixers. Conversion loss/gain, mixing products (the wanted and unwanted output frequencies), linearity, port-to-port isolation. | Mixer noise figure. | |
| 4. | Other active RF circuits: frequency dividers, prescalers, frequency multipliers, phase detectors, the phase locked loop (PLL), modulators, demodulators. |
Instructions for students on how to achieve the learning outcomes
(1) Designing active RF circuits is "something else". It's fascinating and fun. This course introduces you to the RF designer’s world. The intention is that you will understand clearly most of the key issues in the heart of RF engineering. Having tasted that feeling of strong competence, you grow your confidence so that you're ready to dig into anything new. (2) According to the feedback from previous years, this course is somewhat revised for 2015. Most praised learning activities are preserved while some contents are cut out. The true work load was adjusted to correspond 5 cr. (3) The class room activities take place on the first period, only. The main activity is creating a presentation and a seminar report of own topic. This work starts from the beginning of the period. The presentation builds up step by step throughout the whole period. You will get help from peers and the teacher. During the seven weeks you have plenty of time to make your presentation perfect. Preparing and giving a clear presentation on a topic is one of the best ways to make sure you have understood your topic. And others will understand also! (4) It is recommended (but not mandatory) that students take this course together with ELT-47286 RF Project. These courses support each other nicely. (5) Course language is English. Language has never been a problem to any nationality.
Assessment scale:
Numerical evaluation scale (1-5) will be used on the course
Partial passing:
Study material
| Type | Name | Author | ISBN | URL | Additional information | Examination material |
| Book | Microwave Engineering, 4th ed | David M. Pozar | 1118213637, 9781118213636 | John Wiley & Sons, 2011 | No | |
| Book | Microwave Transistor Amplifiers Analysis and Design | Guillermo Gonzales | Second Edition, Prentice Hall, 1997. | No | ||
| Book | RF Circuit Design: Theory and Applications, 2nd ed | Reinhold Ludwig, Gene Bogdanov | 0131471376, 9780131471375 | Pearson 2007 | No | |
| Book | RF Design Guide, Systems, Circuits, and Equations | Peter Vizmuller | Artech House, 1995. | No |
Prerequisites
| Course | Mandatory/Advisable | Description |
| ELT-41710 Johdatus suurtaajuustekniikkaan | Advisable | 1 |
| ELT-41727 Practical RF Electronics: First Principles Applied | Advisable | |
| ELT-47206 Basics of RF Engineering | Mandatory |
1 . ELT-41727 Practical RF Electronics: First Principles Applied
Additional information about prerequisites
ELT-47206 Basics of RF Engineering is mentioned as a "mandatory prerequisite", however, students with sufficient previous knowledge can be accepted after an interview.
Correspondence of content
| Course | Corresponds course | Description |
| ELT-47266 Active RF Circuits, 5 cr | ELE-6256 Active RF Circuits, 5 cr |