RF circuits and systems - an interleaving course of RF integrated systems and wireless communications beyond RFIC

This paper describes a new graduate course developed in University of Florida in response to the increasing demand of training students to have broad knowledge in radio frequency (RF) circuits and systems and preparing them for the future challenges of designing highly integrated radio systems. The course covers a wide range of materials including antennas, radio propagation, spectrum regulations, wireless communication standards, modulations, transceiver architectures, packaging, and integration issues. In particular, it links the system-level specifications defined in standards and circuit-level specifications in transceiver. Design considerations and trade-offs are discussed. Students also practice how to use electronic design automation (EDA) tools to design and simulate a reference transceiver for a specific application in the final class project.