Student project: Analysis and Design of a Flexible Receiver Front-End for Narrow-Band Application

What you will do

Narrow-band receivers enabling low-power wireless communication are ubiquitous. ISM bands in 900, 2400, and 5800MHz, GSM bands in 900 and 1800MHz, GNSS bands in1200 and 1600MHz, and cellular narrow-band IoT are examples, to name a few. Such different radios are often integrated in large SoCs. It is desirable to design a flexible receiver front-end that can not only support these existing radio bands but also adapt to upcoming narrow-band radios. This reduces the design cost and time to market.

There are several challenges in realizing such a narrow-band flexible receiver front-end (FRFrEnd). For example, the baseband filters need to support varying bandwidth, roll-off, linearity specifications while being power efficient. Furthermore, the receiver architecture needs to be flexible in achieving various noise, linearity, bandwidth specifications. Moreover, it is desired that the circuits of such a receiver are compatible in an advanced technology node which is a natural choice for the large SoCs.

In summary the project is divided in the following tasks:

• Comprehensive study, comparison of existing receiver/baseband filter architectures and their trade-offs (10%)
• Innovative ideas and circuits to relax trade-offs in baseband filters (15%)
• Design of the baseband filter and extensive simulation, verification, layout (25%)
• Integrate the filter in FRXFrEnd and simulate, verify, layout, fabricate (25%)
• PCB design, preparation for the measurement, documentation (25%)

What we do for you

At imec, we work towards tomorrow's technology. Our IPs not only become high quality products with our customers but also get published in top conferences and journals. You have access to both cutting-edge technology and excellent talent pool and experience.  

Who you are

• Motivated in analog circuit and systems with an excellent understanding of analog/RF circuits and system
• Have good understanding of OpAmps, feedback, RLC circuits, noise, linearity and various filter topologies like active RC, gm-C, switched-capacitor filters, etc
• Previous exposure to Cadence with good circuit design, verification and layout experience is a must
• Self-motivated and able to plan and execute the project well
• Available for one year for this project

Interested

Does this position sound like an interesting next step in your career at imec? Don’t hesitate to submit your application by clicking on ‘APPLY NOW’.
Should you have more questions about the job, you can contact jobs@imec.nl.