Analysis and Simulation of RF Subsystems

Abstract

The explosion of the market of wireless digital telecommunications (GSM, DECT, GPS, WLAN, ...) requires low-cost transceiver front-ends with high performance and low power consumption. These front-ends contain RF circuits and baseband analog and digital circuits. An accurate and efficient simulation of such front-ends is beyond the capabilities of SPICE. For example, an analysis of a circuit that is excited by a digitally modulated signal and with parts operating in the GHz range and parts operating at baseband, cannot be simulated efficiently with SPICE. Furthermore, aspects such as mixing noise and phase noise require new advanced analysis techniques. These techniques, together with efficient simulation approaches have been addressed in this chapter. Their use enables an accurate and efficient analysis and simulation of the most important aspects that are of interest in the design of wireless transceiver front-ends.