Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit Design in Horizontal Current Bipolar Transistor Technology

The capabilities of Horizontal Current Bipolar Transistor (HCBT) technology for radio frequency (RF) integrated circuit (IC) design is analyzed. The HBCT, with its novel technological approach and integration with existing CMOS technologies, is entering the testing phase on IC level. The demanding RF integrated circuit requirements and design issues in the frequency range 0.9 – 5 GHz are presented and discussed. A widely used double-balanced active mixer designed in HCBT technology, as an example of RF circuit, is simulated and optimized. The values of −3.0 dB for conversion gain and 25.0 dBm for IIP3 are achieved proving that the HBCT has a great potential for a low-cost design of RF building blocks and provides very useful feedback for the final refinements of the HCBT technology. Index terms – HCBT, BiCMOS, RF system, integrated circuit design, Gummel-Poon model, double-balanced active mixer, conversion gain, IIP3, noise