Active inductor based fully integrated CMOS transmit/ receive switch for 2.4 GHz RF transceiver

Area of Science:

• Electrical Engineering
• Materials Science

Background:

• High-performance Transmit/Receive (T/R) switches are essential components in modern Radio Frequency (RF) transceivers.
• Existing T/R switches often struggle to balance critical performance parameters like isolation and insertion loss.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and develop a T/R switch with superior isolation and minimal insertion loss for 2.4GHz ISM band RF transceivers.
• To achieve a better trade-off among performance parameters using advanced design techniques.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Silterra 0.13µm CMOS process for fabrication.
• Implemented transistor aspect ratio optimization, gate bias resistance, resistive body floating, and active inductor-based parallel resonance techniques.
• Focused on creating a compact design by avoiding bulky external components.

Main Results:

• Achieved 0.85dB insertion loss and 45.17dB isolation in both transmit and receive modes.
• Demonstrated competitive power handling capability (P1dB) of 11.35dBm and linearity (IIP3) of 19.60dBm.
• Resulted in a highly compact T/R switch occupying only 0.003mm² of silicon area.

Conclusions:

• The proposed active inductor-based T/R switch offers an excellent balance of performance and compactness.
• This design is highly suitable for electronic industries prioritizing low-power, high-performance, and miniaturized devices.
• The compact nature of the switch contributes to reduced transceiver costs.