Emerging fifth generation (5G) and beyond 5G communication networks are stimulating the design of radio-frequency (RF) and millimeter-wave (mmWave) integrated circuits for wireless transceivers systems. While co-integration of active circuits and diverse passive components becomes feasible at these high operating frequencies, circuit design is faced with significant challenges due to...
For mmWave Integrated Circuit (IC) design, co-integration of passives can reduce size and power consumption, increase reliability, and reduce overall cost. However, skin and proximity effects in the metallization are aggravated at mmWave frequencies, resulting in increased attenuation and degradation of overall performance. Furthermore, tight integration of passive components (to...
Several hardware-based security improvements to Near Field Communication (NFC) and Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) systems are developed and presented. The improvements are intended to be used in conjunction with software encryption to ensure robust security. Two main implementations for a more secure NFC or RFID system are presented: a jamming system,...
In college transmission lines courses, students are expected to understand how different circuit configurations affect the signals on a transmission line. Having a way to visualize these signals can greatly improve their learning experience. This thesis details the development of an open source, interactive learning tool used to illustrate fundamental...
The addition of thin-film alloy magnetic materials to integrated circuit processing enables a number of novel monolithic circuits. Examples include fully integrated magnetic field sensors, signal and power galvanic isolation circuits, and power supplies on chip (PwrSoC). There are several benefits to integrating these traditionally off-chip devices, including improved manufacturability,...
In advanced integrated circuit (IC) processes, the metal fill inserted to meet foundry imposed density requirements degrades the performance of interconnects and passive components which ultimately affects the overall circuit performance. Accounting for this degradation through electromagnetic and equivalent circuit modeling is becoming a critical aspect of IC design. However,...
This work is concerned with the modeling and analysis of lossy planar dielectric
optical waveguides. Loss mechanisms which affect propagation characteristics are
reviewed, and various representations of the propagation constant in the lossy case
are defined. Waveguide structures which are susceptable to absorption and/or to
leakage loss, in particular silicon-based...
A versatile computational technique for improved time domain modeling of electromagnetic radiative systems is demonstrated. Two computational methods are combined: the finite-difference time domain (FDTD) method, a full-wave electromagnetic field solver, and the Kirchhoff surface integral formulation, a spatial transformation technique. The combined FDTD/Kirchhoff technique is shown to increase accuracy...
Plastic packaging is a cost-effective solution for housing RF and microwave integrated circuits in low cost communication devices. While enabling low cost packaging of integrated circuits, plastic packages including the circuit ground patch (paddle) inside the package can have a significant parasitic effect on circuit performance. The purpose of this...
The electrical performance of on-chip interconnects has become a limiting factor to the performance of modern integrated circuits including RFICs, mixed-signal circuits, as well as high-speed VLSI circuits due to increasing operating frequencies, chip areas, and integration densities. It is advantageous to have fast and accurate closed-form expressions for the...