RFICS Presentation Structure

Organizational stuff

Background and Introduction
- Standard way of doing things ("Old technique")
- Explanation of issue the ideas in the paper are aimed at
Proposed Ideas
- Discussion of semiconductor technology; Comparison with IHP technology (if sufficient details are provided)
- Circuit schematics
- Explanation of which topology is used and why
- Is there anything unconventional about the design?
- Explanation of measurement results in paper
Simulation Results
- Explanation of design steps (e.g., approach proposed in lecture: worry about bias in the end)
  - How transistors were chosen
  - Choice of operating point
  - Rest of schematic details
- Simulation of circuit in paper (with explanation - I guess intuitive explanation of why things look the way they do?)
- If the design in the paper is different to the standard approach: Comparison of pros and cons with standard topology, with simulations
Discussion
- Own observations and opinions about the ideas in the paper
- (Bonus) Further simulations with ideas from the lecture
Conclusion

Layout issues and optimization are out of scope, in case they exist in the paper

Compare technologies (B11HFC, SG13G2)
What are the benefits of SiGe? (e.g., RF on same chip as digital stuff)
How does the proposed topology work?
- Why do transmission-line based differential L-type matching networks have a high bandwidth?
- How can we just remove the bottom transistors?
Intuitive explanations of paper simulation results
Why do single-ended chip interfaces enable a dense chip-to-package transition?
Stuff from background slide:
Relevant theoretical background on mixers
- What is special about zero-IF mixers?
- ~What is special about broadband mixers/devices?~ Take a look ad broadband IC notes
- What is special about down-conversion mixers?
- What is special about BiCMOS technology?
- ~What is D-Band?~
Simulation

LSSP: Normal S-Parameters are determined for linearized systems. For this reason, they are only tools of small-signal analysis. Large-Signal S-Parameters are defined similarly (ratios of power going in/out) but are computed considering non-linearities.