Experience

Our specialized expertise is in:

  • Analog and RF (up to 80 GHz) design in SiGe BiCMOS and deep-submicron CMOS technologies.
  • Leading multi-disciplinary teams (system level design and partitioning, system architecture, antenna design, IC architecture and design, signal processing and algorithm design).
  • Design of large systems and system-on-chip, including analysis of silicon cross-talk.
  • High-level modelling in VerilogA and Matlab/Octave/Python.
  • Digital polar WLAN transmitters.
  • System/RF analysis of AM, FM, DECT, Bluetooth, GSM, WLAN and 5G systems.
  • System level implications of jitter in (delta-sigma) AD/DA converters.
  • Up- and down-converters in the 30, 40, 60, 80 GHz frequency range.
  • SiGe PA design up to 20 dBm.
  • Design of wideband/narrowband (noise-cancelling) Low Noise Amplifiers.
  • 60/80 GHz (integrated) radar design.
  • Support for start-ups, WBSO subsidies, etc.
  • Expert opinion in (legal) patent discussions.

This experience has been used in various circuits like a 60 GHz radar IC with on-chip antennas:

A 60 GHz antenna module:

A DECT frontend:
dect

The world’s first Bluetooth system-on-chip:
Bluetooth

A digital polar modulator for WLAN:
WLan

The modelling and pcell-scripting for transmission-lines in 60 GHz designs:
transmissionlines

A complete overview of our experience:

  • Radio and radio-like systems:
    • Analog AM and FM modulation,
    • Digital modulation (GFSK, GMSK, OFDM, linear chirps),
    • DECT, Bluetooth, GSM and WLAN 802.11a/b/g,
    • FMCW and Doppler radar.
  • Integration in silicon, bipolar, CMOS and SiGe processes.
  • Design of key circuits (from DC up to 80 GHz):
    • Bandgap, voltage references and low dropout regulators,
    • LNA’s,
    • Mixers,
    • VCO/oscillator design,
    • frequency divider circuits,
    • phase-shifters for beam-steering.
  • Modelling (including on-wafer measurements):
    • Transmission-lines (at 60 GHz),
    • On-chip passives (R, C, L and bondpads),
    • Varactors,
    • (on-chip) SAW filters.
  • Receiver, Transmitter and Synthesizer system (including linear chirp generation) design.
  • Design of rat-race couplers and Electronic Balance Duplexers, including programmable balancing impedances to minimise TX to RX feedthrough.
  • Antenna design at 1, 2.5, 5, 10, 24 and 60 GHz (monopole, dipole, patch-antennas and horn-antennas).
  • Design of antennas arrays and array-factor (including scripts to generate the PCB gerber file and dxf-files as basis for EM-simulation tools).
  • Cadence:
    • Virtuoso,
    • SpectreRF (including PSS, PAC and PNOISE analysis),
    • VerilogA,
    • ADS Momentum for simulating RF structures,
    • Cadence EMX for simulating RF structures,
    • Skill/python scripts for automatic layout generation (transmission-lines, inductors, fringe-capacitors).
  • System level modelling in Matlab, Octave and Python.
  • Signal processing for Doppler- and FMCW-radar in Matlab, Octave and Python:
    • fft, choice of window functions,
    • accurate average and peak-detection of spread-frequency signals,
    • VCO phase-noise suppression effects in FMCW radar also known as range correlation,
    • GMSK (DECT, Bluetooth, etc) demodulation.
  • EMC and shielding analysis of circuits and systems.