Optimized built-in self-calibration of RF SoCs

Built-in self-calibration (BiSC) of RF SoCs allows the restoration of a circuit's conformance to its specifications in case of violations due to process variations and device mismatches that are common in nanoscale technologies. A method to optimize BiSC is presented in this paper, by which the number of successfully restored circuits is maximized using the minimum possible number of calibration states. The method is assessed through a case study conducted on a typical RF mixer designed in a 180 nm CMOS technology, and it is shown that yield is doubled by using only five calibration states.