Integrated circuit technology options for RFIC's-present status and future directions

This paper summarizes the technology tradeoffs that are involved in the implementation of radiofrequency integrated circuits for wireless communications. Radio transceiver circuits have a very broad range of requirements-including noise-figure, linearity, gain, power dissipation. The advantages and disadvantages of each of the competing technologies-Si CMOS, and BJT, Si/SiGe HBTs, and GaAs MESFETs, PHEMTs and HBTs are examined.