ECE 413/513 –Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit Design

Fall 2018, University of Idaho

Lecture notes are here and course handouts are here.

Homework assignments, project information, and due dates are located here. Homework solutions are on BBlearn.

Grades are posted here.

Cadence Wiki with FAQs is here.

 

Piazza discussion forum is available here.

 

 

Instructor       : Vishal Saxena

Email              : vsaxena AT uidaho DOT edu

Time               : Tue & Thu 9:30-10:45 AM

Course dates  : Aug 21 - Dec 13, 2017

Location         : EP 203

Office Hours  : Tue 1:30-2:30 PM & Thu 1-2 pm (or by appointment), BEL 318

Holidays         : Fall Recess (Nov 20 & 22)

Final Exam time: Monday , Dec 10, 8 – 10 AM

Course TA     :  None. Submit HWs to the instructor as directed.

 

Textbook –  High-Frequency Integrated Circuits, S. Voinigescu, The Cambridge RF and Microwave Engineering Series, 1st edition, 2013.

 

Additional Reference –  RF Microelectronics – B. Razavi, 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall, 2011

For detailed references and handouts see course site.

 

Course content  (Syllabus) –

Analysis and design of CMOS/BiCMOS electronic circuits for wireless communication systems. Analysis of noise and distortion in two-port circuits. Tuned and Low-noise amplifier design. RF mixers, modulators, and oscillators. Power amplifier design if time permits. 

 

Prerequisites – ECE 410 or equivalent (strictly enforced).

Recommended background: Read up on analog circuits and noise-analysis from ECE 515 and Transmission Lines from an undergraduate textbook. PLL design is covered in ECE 504.

 

 

Expectations – The course will build upon material covered in the prerequisite ECE 410 which is strictly required, will be fast paced and will include self-study components. Familiarity with schematic capture and Spectre simulation is assumed. Students are encouraged to review Cadence usage using videos tutorials linked from the course site.

 

 

CAD software information

The course will require extensive use of Cadence Design System in Linux environment. Set up instructions are available here.

 

Piazza Discussion Site

We will be using Piazza for class discussion. The course Piazza page is located atpiazza.com/uidaho/fall2018/ece5413/home . You can sign up here.

The system is highly catered to getting you help fast and efficiently from classmates, TA, and myself. Rather than emailing questions to the instructor, I encourage you to post your questions on Piazza.

 

Workload (Grading) 

25% Homeworks

25% Midterm Exam

25% Project 1

25% Final Exam or Project 2

 

This grading scale is for both ECE413 and ECE513 students. Students are required to write their project reports in provided IEEE Transaction format. Microsoft Word Templates will be available at the class web site for Project report. Using these templates will be mandatory.

 

Make-Up Policies

Only students presenting medical or official university excuses to the instructor will be allowed to take a make-up exam or other missed assignments. Whenever possible, arrangements should be made with the instructor prior to the regularly scheduled exam or assignment due date. Making these arrangements is entirely the responsibility of the student. Make up exams or other assignments may differ from those given at the regularly scheduled time, and whether an absence is deemed to be excusable is at the discretion of the instructor.

 

 

 

Academic Honesty

Academic honesty is governed by Article II of the University of Idaho’s Student Code of Conduct http://www.webs.uidaho.edu/fsh/2300.html. Cheating on classroom or outside assignments, including examinations is a violation of this code. Incidents of academic dishonesty will be kept on file by the instructor and may be reported to the dean of students. Such instances of academic dishonesty may warrant expulsion from the course and a failing grade. All students should be aware that even one incident of academic dishonesty may also merit expulsion from the University.

 

Policies

·         Homework and exam scores become final one week after they are returned to the class.

·         Late submissions of assignments and project reports are not encouraged; however, if you cannot finish in time and submit late before the solutions are available, a 25% per day compounding deduction will be applied on the final grade. (Ex.:100 points assignment submitted 3 days late will be graded on 42 points, 1 day on 75, 2 days 56, 4 days 32, etc.).

·         Submission will not be accepted if the solutions are distributed by any means.

·         Assignments have to be turned in during class session. I will not accept any assignment dropped in my office mailbox without getting my permission earlier. You may consult with others on assignments, provided you only submit your attempt at the work. Identical assignments will receive a grade of zero and be considered as academic dishonesty case. Assignment is considered one day late if it is not turned in the class on the day it is due.

·         Neither the final exam nor final project will be returned at the end of the semester.

 

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