Next-Generation RFIC Design: Architecture, Applications and AI
A special issue of Electronics (ISSN 2079-9292). This special issue belongs to the section "Circuit and Signal Processing".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 January 2027 | Viewed by 30
Editors
Interests: ultra-low-power radio; RF front-end; wireless power and data transfer transceiver; frequency generation circuits; analog front-end; brain-computer-interface SoC
Interests: digital-to-time converters (DTC); time-to-digital converters (TDC); phase-locked loops (PLL); frequency synthesizers; mixed-signal IC design; capacitance-to-digital converters; high-speed PHY/interface design
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
RF integrated circuit design has long been dominated by manual, experience‑driven iterations that struggle with fundamental trade‑offs: gain versus bandwidth, noise versus power, phase noise versus tuning range, and linearity versus efficiency. As wireless systems move toward wider bandwidths, higher carrier frequencies, and increasingly diverse applications (IoT, biomedical implants, 5G/6G, radar, satellite communications), these trade‑offs become more acute. Three parallel and complementary strategies have emerged to push beyond conventional limits: (1) architectural innovation—new circuit topologies, adaptive biasing, and mixed‑signal-assisted designs; (2) application‑driven innovation—tailoring specifications and architectures to exploit the relaxed constraints of specific cases; and (3) AI‑driven RFIC design—GNNs for topology-aware performance prediction, LLM for RFIC design automation, and PINN for EM-consistent RF modeling. The most impactful RFIC solutions today often combine elements from all three directions, yet the existing literature largely treats them in isolation.
This Special Issue aims to collect high‑quality research that addresses the limitations of conventional RFIC design through any combination of architectural, application‑driven, and AI‑based approaches. The focus is on practical, verifiable circuit implementations for key building blocks and systems, including low‑noise amplifier (LNA), frequency synthesizer, VCO, power amplifier (PA), receiver, transmitter and transceiver. The scope covers silicon‑based technologies (CMOS, SiGe) as well as emerging processes, with a strong preference for measured results or verifiable simulations. Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
- Novel architectures for RF transmitters, receivers and transceivers;
- RF power and data transfer transceivers for cutting-edge applications;
- Wideband low‑jitter frequency synthesizers;
- High‑performance VCOs (phase noise, tuning range, FOM);
- High‑performance PAs for 5G/6G;
- AI/ML methods for RFIC design, optimization, layout, and calibration;
- Integrated solutions combining architectural innovation with AI‑driven design.
We look forward to your contributions.
Dr. Dawei Ye
Dr. Peng Chen
Guest Editors
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
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-anonymized 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
- RF power and data transfer transceiver
- frequency synthesizer
- VCO
- PLL
- power amplifier
- receiver
- transmitter
- transceiver
- AI-driven RFIC design
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
