Digitally programmable RF front-ends: towards universal mobile communication service

Summary form only given. This presentation discusses the evolution of the wireless industry and focuses on transceiver architectures and circuit design techniques used in modern cost effective mobile communication systems. Architectures and design techniques suitable for multi-standard, low power transceivers achieving higher levels of integration are presented. The techniques exploit recent developments in submicron BiCMOS and CMOS VLSI techniques together with innovative mixed analog/digital design methodologies whereby the control of analog front-end is affected directly by digital signals generated from the DSP parts in the baseband. This will pave the way towards efficient implementation of the third generation universal mobile telephone service (UMTS) and drive an increasingly competitive broadband wireless market even further.