An analysis that accounts for the effect of standard electrostatic discharge (ESD) structures on critical LNA specifications of noise figure, input matching and gain is presented. It is shown that the ESD structures degrade LNA performance particularly for higher frequency applications. Two LNAs, one with ESD protection and one without,...
Algorithms and simulators comprised of SPICE3 as a circuit level simulator and two device simulators EOFLOW and PROPHET for accurate simulation of new types of devices are presented in this thesis. An integration of EOFLOW with SPICE3 creates a capability for efficient simulation of a system containing interconnected electroosmotic flow...
The dependence of the substrate resistance, R[subscript sub], for MOS transistor RF modeling on transistor biasing and layout is studied from device simulations and measurements. Though R[subscript sub] is found to be bias dependent, the error incurred by assuming a constant value equal to the DC resistance is not significant....
This thesis presents algorithms and tools for the automated design of RF LC CMOS voltage controlled oscillators (VCOs) with low phase noise given a set of specifications. The electromagnetic solver, ASITIC, combined with the circuit simulator, SpectreRF, allows optimization of the VCO circuit parameters and inductor layout. This approach gives...
The focus of this work is on the steady-state analysis of RE circuits using a coupled device and circuit simulator. Efficient coupling algorithms for both the time-domain shooting method and the frequency-domain harmonic balance method have been developed. A modified Newton shooting method considerably improves the efficiency and reliability of...
This work focusses on the modeling and the development of efficient coupled simulation techniques for MEMS based RF oscillators. High-level models for MEMS based varactors have been discussed and their accuracy issues are identified, based on comparisons with numerical simulations. A faster simulation approach based on the time-domain shooting method...
A new coupled circuit and electrostatic/mechanical simulator (COSMO) for the design of RF MEMS VCOs is presented in this thesis. The numerical solution of device level equations is used to accurately compute the capacitance of a MEMS capacitor. This coupled with a circuit simulator facilitates the simulation of circuits incorporating...
The focus of this work is on developing algorithms for frequency domain steady-state analysis of oscillators. Convergence problems associated with the frequency domain harmonic balance simulation of oscillators have been examined. Globally convergent homotopy methods have been combined with the harmonic balance method for robust high-Q oscillator simulation. Various homotopy...
In this thesis, the performance degradation of a phase-locked loop due to substrate noise is examined. A new analytical equivalent circuit model for substrate noise coupling is derived for a heavily doped silicon substrate. The model has been validated with measured data from a 0.35 μm CMOS process. Since the...
This dissertation focuses on the analysis, design, and application of inductor-capacitor (LC) oscillators for wireless sensor networks (WSNs).
First an analysis and design optimization approach for enhanced swing, low power CMOS LC oscillators is presented. A phasor based analysis is used for determining the amplitude and phase noise of these...