Modeling single-event transient propagation in a SiGe BiCMOS direct-conversion receiver

The propagation of single-event transient (SET) signals in a silicon-germanium (SiGe) direct-conversion receiver is studied. A theoretical analysis of transient propagation, verified by simulation, is presented. A new method to characterize and quantify the impact of SETs in communication systems carrying modulated data is proposed. The proposed method suggests examining distortions in the signal constellation diagram to determine the effect of SETs on modulated data, and using error vector magnitude to estimate the error probability in different parts of the system.