A receiver in SiGe BiCMOS technology for wireless low frequency time signal broadcast system

Author

Yeh, Ho-Hsin ; Huang, Ji-Chen ; Kuo, Yu-Chen ; Hsu, Klaus Y -J

Author_Institution

Inst. of Electron. Eng., Nat. Tsing Hua Univ., Hsinchu, Taiwan

fYear

2011

fDate

25-28 April 2011

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

4

Abstract

Low frequency (LF) broadcast system is not only an essential platform for the operation of radio watches but also a potential system for various applications such as disaster warning. The front-end IC in the LF receivers is a key component. A low-power, low-noise receiver front-end IC realized in SiGe BiCMOS technology for low frequency (77.5 kHz) time signal broadcast system is presented in this work. The receiver exhibits wide input dynamic range and high sensitivity. For the use at LF, flicker noise usually dominates the system noise floor. The receiver designed in this work uses SiGe HBT to reduce flicker noise. The receiver also incorporates a variable gain amplifier (VGA) with wide gain range from -44 dB to 62 dB. Under 3.3 V power supply, the receiver only consumes 0.343 mW when working. Stand-by mode has been implemented to save even more energy. The chip occupies an area of 1300 μm × 908 μm.

Keywords

BiCMOS integrated circuits; Ge-Si alloys; flicker noise; heterojunction bipolar transistors; radio receivers; radiofrequency amplifiers; radiofrequency integrated circuits; semiconductor materials; BiCMOS technology; HBT; LF receivers; SiGe; flicker noise; frequency 77.5 kHz; front-end IC; gain -44 dB to 62 dB; power 0.343 mW; variable gain amplifier; voltage 3.3 V; wireless low frequency time signal broadcast system; Capacitors; Demodulation; Gain; Gain control; Integrated circuits; Receivers; Voltage control;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

VLSI Design, Automation and Test (VLSI-DAT), 2011 International Symposium on

Conference_Location

Hsinchu

ISSN

Pending

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-8500-0

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/VDAT.2011.5783637

Filename

5783637