Outline
Day One
Digital Modulation Fundamentals
• System link block diagram
- modulation, transmission, channel, reception, demodulation • Why Digital?
- Resistance to fading, voice vs. packet data, capacity •
IQ modulation representation
- constellation, eye diagram display formats •
BPSK, QPSK, MSK, properties of gaussian and RRC filtering, concept of ISI • Channel characteristics, diversity, fading types, mitigation techniques, Spread spectrum, OFDM, equalisation and training •
TDMA, FDMA, CDMA definitions • TDD, FDD
Common Modulation Standards and Implications for RF Implementation
• Constant envelope modulation examples
- Bluetooth, GSM • Non-constant Envelope Modulation examples
- EDGE, W-CDMA, LTE, CDMA2000, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, GPS, Bluetooth EDR
Transceiver System Considerations
• Common RF System Components
- Amplifiers, mixers, filters, etc. • Imperfections: Distortion and noise, spurious responses •
Transceiver architectures and trade-offs
- Frequency planning, analysis of cascaded blocks, TDD and FDD considerations •
Transceiver architectural examples •
GSM example, Bluetooth example, 3GPP example. Superhet, Zero IF, low IF, Analogue quadrature modulator, Digital IF, Up-mixing. Upconversion loopDay Two
RF Component-level Measurements
• Linear measurements
- Power, S-Parameters (including Balanced devices), Group delay, Noise figure, Phase noise • Nonlinear measurements
- Intermodulation, Load-pull, EVM, ACP, AM-AM and AM-PM calculated from IQ measurements • Two-tone Intermodulation •
ACP
- GSM and W-CDMA measurement examples •
Modulation Accuracy - EVM
- Rms, peak, 95th percentile • Measurement uncertainty properties of small EVMs •
Load-pull • Source and Load plane contours of gain, efficiency, ACP, EVM
Receiver Measurements
• Analysis of Cascaded Blocks •
BER
- Bit errors, block errors, frame erasure, sync errors, Typical measurement system, including loopback mode •
Sensitivity Definitions, e.g. 1E-3 BER point • Receiver Blocking Mechanisms •
Selectivity Measurements •
Spurious Response Measurements • Measurement techniques
- - analogue IF / IQ / RSSI level sweep with interferer
Transmitter Measurements
•
Spurious Emissions
- Tx noise in rx band, Harmonics and mixing products • Transient Behaviour
- Power - time response, Frequency spectrum due to power burst, Frequency kick due to power ramping •
ACP
- Due to modulation, due to power switching transients • Modulation Accuracy - EVM • Code Domain Power and PCDE
Day Three
Fabrication Technologies
•
PCB types • Etching tolerances, board layer construction, vias/drill sizes, thermal reliefs, implications on RF performance • TDR characterisation
RF System Integration
•
choosing PCB layer structure •
grounding strategies •
coupling between components • floorplanning
- which side of the board to place components to maximise isolation •
shielding / screening, gaskets, effectiveness •
mismatches when cascading filters and amplifiers, pulling and buffering • Tolerancing / Yield • Thermal and electrical derating for reliability
Integration of RF and Baseband
• processor clocks getting into receivers • system planning to avoid harmonics at specific frequencies • reference spurs on VCOs • "hot" supply lines and control lines, and their effect on the system
The Design Verification Process
• What to test and what to look for at each prototype iteration • Integration Do's and Don'ts • Minimising the number of Prototype Iterations required • Automated Design Verification Testing
Case Studies - Products and circuit examples including:
•
GSM •
W-CDMA • DECT •
FSK • PWT •
802.11 series WiFi • Zigbee •
GPS