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Electronics
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RF/MM-Wave Circuits Design and Applications, 2nd Edition
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RF/MM-Wave Circuits Design and Applications, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Electronics (ISSN 2079-9292). This special issue belongs to the section "Circuit and Signal Processing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 June 2025 | Viewed by 4400

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Egidio Ragonese

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Elettrica Elettronica e Informatica (DIEEI), Università di Catania, 95125 Catania, Italy
Interests: radio frequency (RF) and millimeter wave (mm-wave) integrated circuits/systems for wireless communication systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Radio frequency (RF) and millimeter-wave (mm-wave) circuits are enabling the development of applications that are crucial to our life, such as wireless communication (e.g., 5G mobile communication, wireless LANs, low-data-rate and low-power communication, NFC), industrial automation (e.g., IoTs, high-precision positioning sensors, galvanic isolation), automotive safety (e.g., vehicular radar sensors, ADASs) and medical instrumentations (non-ionizing imaging systems, wearable sensors, implanted devices, etc.). Nanoscale CMOS technologies are able to cope with such applications up to the mm-wave spectrum, while SiGe BiCMOS processes are still dominating from 120 GHz to terahertz. In this context, GaN technlogies are also gaining significance in RF/mm-wave power applications owing to their intrinsic benefits in terms of power efficiency, especially at high temperatures.

This Special Issue aims to present the latest results in the field of RF and mm-wave ICs in CMOS, BiCMOS and GaN technologies, with a focus on the modelling of active/passive components, the electromagnetic (EM) simulation of integrated passive devices, integrated circuit design, system-on-chip (SoC) integration, advanced package-to-chip co-design, new transceiver architectures, antenna-to-chip co-design, and the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to RF/mm-wave circuit/layout design.

The topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • RX front-end circuits (LNAs, mixers, VGAs, T/R switches, amplifiers, filters, demodulators);
  • Low-power transceivers (wireless circuits for low power operation, battery-less transceivers, wakeup receivers, RFID, near-field communications);
  • Oscillators and frequency synthesizers (VCOs, frequency dividers, LO distribution, multipliers, PLLs, charge pumps);
  • Transmitters and power amplifiers for 5G and mm-wave applications;
  • Integrated radars, including vehicular radar sensors;
  • mm-wave communication circuits and systems-on-chip;
  • Galvanically isolated data/power transfer systems based on RF coupling;
  • Application of artificial intelligence (AI) to RF/mm-wave circuit and layout design.

Dr. Egidio Ragonese
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Electronics is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • LNA
  • mixer
  • PA
  • radar
  • VCO
  • antenna
  • PLL
  • transmitter
  • receiver
  • transceiver

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 5368 KiB  
Article
A Control Technique for Galvanically Isolated DC–DC Converters with a Single Channel
by Alessandro Parisi, Egidio Ragonese, Nunzio Spina, Alessandro Castorina and Giuseppe Palmisano
Electronics 2025, 14(7), 1368; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics14071368 - 29 Mar 2025
Viewed by 247
Abstract
This paper presents an on–off power control technique for galvanically isolated dc–dc converters, which implements a feedback control loop for power regulation on the same isolation transformer used for power transfer. To this aim, the power oscillator is controlled with a PWM scheme, [...] Read more.
This paper presents an on–off power control technique for galvanically isolated dc–dc converters, which implements a feedback control loop for power regulation on the same isolation transformer used for power transfer. To this aim, the power oscillator is controlled with a PWM scheme, and the control signal is transmitted through the galvanic barrier by using an ASK modulation that acts on the secondary winding of the isolation transformer. The key building block of the proposed architecture is a PLL that allows the reconstruction of the PWM control signal when the power oscillator is turned off and data transmission is disabled. The effectiveness of the proposed power control architecture is validated by designing an isolated dc–dc converter based on a thick polyimide transformer. It complies with reinforced isolation while addressing the power requirements of applications such as low-power sensor interfaces, medical devices, and housekeeping power, e.g., gate drivers or controllers for power converters. At a 20 V output voltage, 110 mW isolated output power is delivered. The dc–dc converter also provides PWM power regulation against PVT variations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue RF/MM-Wave Circuits Design and Applications, 2nd Edition)
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19 pages, 5312 KiB  
Article
A Comprehensive Numerical Analysis of a 2.45 GHz Energy Harvesting Rectenna System and a Proposal for a Figure of Merit for Rectenna Systems
by Gabriel Koubar, Fayrouz Haddad, Amine Gadacha, Sawsan Sadek and Wenceslas Rahajandraibe
Electronics 2025, 14(4), 716; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics14040716 - 12 Feb 2025
Viewed by 486
Abstract
This work presents a numerical analysis of a 2.45 GHz full-wave bridge rectifier for RF (radio frequency) energy harvesting under low-power input conditions, and a guideline for developing a figure of merit (FOM) for RF energy harvester rectennas by relying on data science [...] Read more.
This work presents a numerical analysis of a 2.45 GHz full-wave bridge rectifier for RF (radio frequency) energy harvesting under low-power input conditions, and a guideline for developing a figure of merit (FOM) for RF energy harvester rectennas by relying on data science techniques, laying the foundation for a universally accepted FOM. The performance of the full-wave bridge rectifier, using two types of Schottky diodes, HSMS2850 and SMS7630, was evaluated at −5 and −15 dBm, with the diodes achieving maximum power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 57% and 33%, respectively, and reflection coefficient S11 values below −30 dB. A printed circuit board was designed to prepare for future laboratory measurements offering insights into real-world performance. Additionally, a double-voltage rectifier was simulated, achieving PCE values of 41% and 66% at similar input power levels; furthermore, various CMOS-based rectifier topologies reached PCE values of 69% at −5 dBm and 43.6% at −26 dBm. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue RF/MM-Wave Circuits Design and Applications, 2nd Edition)
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14 pages, 4022 KiB  
Article
A 13–33 GHz Wideband Low-Noise Amplifier in 150-nm GaAs Based on Simultaneous Noise- and Input-Matched Gain-Core with R-L-C Shunt Feedback Network
by Seonyeong Hwang, Dongwan Kang, Yeonggeon Lee and Dae-Woong Park
Electronics 2025, 14(3), 450; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics14030450 - 23 Jan 2025
Viewed by 698
Abstract
This work reports the concept of a shunt negative feedback technique for implementing a millimeter-wave wideband low-noise amplifier. The proposed shunt negative feedback network consists of a resistor–capacitor–inductor configuration. The proposed feedback network can achieve simultaneous noise and input matching (SNIM) over a [...] Read more.
This work reports the concept of a shunt negative feedback technique for implementing a millimeter-wave wideband low-noise amplifier. The proposed shunt negative feedback network consists of a resistor–capacitor–inductor configuration. The proposed feedback network can achieve simultaneous noise and input matching (SNIM) over a wide frequency range by adjusting the values of the resistor–capacitor–inductor configuration based on numerical analysis. By adopting the SNIM-based gain core as the first stage of the amplifier, the simulation results of the three-stage low-noise amplifier in a 150-nm GaAs pHEMT process achieve a gain of 15.6–18.6 dB and a noise figure of 1.05–2.8 dB in the frequency range of 13–33 GHz, respectively, while dissipating 99 mW. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue RF/MM-Wave Circuits Design and Applications, 2nd Edition)
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16 pages, 12452 KiB  
Article
Scaling Nuclear Magnetic Resonance with Integrated Planar Coil and Transceiver Front-End: Co-Design Considerations
by Natachai Terawatsakul, Alireza Saberkari, Yuttapoom Puttisong and Morgan Madec
Electronics 2025, 14(2), 398; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics14020398 - 20 Jan 2025
Viewed by 874
Abstract
A comprehensive framework for designing a micro-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) front-end is presented. Key radio frequency (RF) engineering principles are established to enable efficient excitation and detection of NMR signals. This foundation aims to guide the optimal design of novel handheld NMR devices [...] Read more.
A comprehensive framework for designing a micro-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) front-end is presented. Key radio frequency (RF) engineering principles are established to enable efficient excitation and detection of NMR signals. This foundation aims to guide the optimal design of novel handheld NMR devices operating with magnetic fields (B0) below 0.5 Tesla and RF frequencies under 30 MHz. To address the complexities of signal-to-noise ratio optimization in this regime, a specialized metric called the coil performance factor (CPF) is introduced, emphasizing the role of coil design. Through systematic optimization under realistic constraints, an optimal coil configuration maximizing the CPF is identified. This design, with three turns, a coil width of 0.22 mm, and a coil spacing of 0.15 mm, achieves an optimal balance between magnetic field strength, homogeneity, and noise. This work serves as a valuable resource for engineers developing optimized coil designs and RF solutions for handheld NMR devices, providing clear explanations of essential concepts and a practical design methodology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue RF/MM-Wave Circuits Design and Applications, 2nd Edition)
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26 pages, 1704 KiB  
Article
A Unified Design Methodology for Front-End RF/mmWave Receivers
by Anastasios Michailidis, Alexandros Chatzis, Panayiota Tsimpou, Vasiliki Gogolou and Thomas Noulis
Electronics 2025, 14(2), 235; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics14020235 - 8 Jan 2025
Viewed by 704
Abstract
In this work, a unified design methodology for front-end RF/mmWave receivers is presented, aiming to significantly accelerate the design procedure of the front-end RF blocks in complex RX/TX chain implementations. The proposed design methodology is based on optimization loops with well-defined cost functions [...] Read more.
In this work, a unified design methodology for front-end RF/mmWave receivers is presented, aiming to significantly accelerate the design procedure of the front-end RF blocks in complex RX/TX chain implementations. The proposed design methodology is based on optimization loops with well-defined cost functions so as to minimize the design iterations that may be encountered during specification tuning. As proof of concept, two essential RF blocks widely used in RF receivers, a low-noise amplifier (LNA) and a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), were designed using the proposed unified methodology with a 65 nm RF-CMOS processing node. Finally, the derived designs were compared to similar designs in the literature, proving that the proposed unified methodology is capable of synthesizing RF/mmWave LNAs and VCOs with industry-standard specifications within a significantly faster time frame. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue RF/MM-Wave Circuits Design and Applications, 2nd Edition)
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18 pages, 5724 KiB  
Article
A Wideband dB-Linear Analog Baseband for a Millimeter-Wave Receiver with Error Compensation in 40 nm CMOS Technology
by Shiwei Hu, Hao Wang and Yanjie Wang
Electronics 2024, 13(24), 5012; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics13245012 - 20 Dec 2024
Viewed by 646
Abstract
This paper presents a low power wideband dB-linear analog baseband (ABB) circuit for a millimeter-wave (mmW) wireless receiver in 40 nm CMOS technology. The proposed ABB system consists of a multi-stage variable gain amplifier (VGA) and a low-pass filter (LPF). The 5-stage VGA [...] Read more.
This paper presents a low power wideband dB-linear analog baseband (ABB) circuit for a millimeter-wave (mmW) wireless receiver in 40 nm CMOS technology. The proposed ABB system consists of a multi-stage variable gain amplifier (VGA) and a low-pass filter (LPF). The 5-stage VGA is composed of two variable gain units followed by three fixed gain units with DC offset cancellation (DCOC). The first variable gain unit with a self-compensated transistor pair and compact active inductor load is designed for dB-linear functionality and bandwidth extension, respectively. Moreover, a proposed error compensation method is applied to the second cascaded variable gain unit for further dB-linear gain error correction. A 4th-order Butterworth transconductance-capacitance (Gm-C) LPF with flipped source follower (FSF) as an input transconductance stage for linearity enhancement is designed after the VGA stage. The prototype chip is implemented, and measurement results show a dB-linear gain range from −18 to 26 dB with less than 0.5 dB-linear gain error with a bandwidth of 4 GHz. The VGA and LPF consume 8.3 mW and 3 mW, respectively, under a 1 V power supply, while the entire ABB occupies an area of 0.94 mm2 with an active core area of only 0.045 mm2. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue RF/MM-Wave Circuits Design and Applications, 2nd Edition)
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