Low power RF integrated circuits: principles and practice

Ultralow power wireless communicators, such as paging receivers operating from a single cell, have prompted the development and discovery of circuit techniques and architectures which lower power consumption of RF IC´s ten-fold or more compared to today´s norms. This paper illustrates many of these design principles, mainly in a CMOS context. It argues for seeking strategic combinations of high quality off-chip passives with RF integrated circuits, and searching for better architectures in wireless receivers (and transmitters) to lower power. The principles are illustrated with specific examples.