Nowadays there is an increasing interest in the field of implantable biosensors. The possibility of real-time monitoring of the human body from inside paves the way to a large number of applications and offers wide opportunities for the future. Within this scenario, the i-IronIC project aims to develop an implantable, low cost, health-care device for real-time monitoring of human metabolites. T...

Electrically small antennas are needed to further lower the cost of wireless elements. However, the antenna gain is constrained to the Harrington limit, while the impedance matching and directivity characteristics deteriorate in electrically small antennas. Using a dipole antenna loaded with a left-handed ladder structure is a promising technique for reducing the size of antennas. In this lette...

On-chip spiral inductors with variable line width layouts are known for their high quality factor (Q-factor). In this paper, we present an analytical approach to facilitate the design of such inductors. Based on analysis ohmic and eddy-current losses, first derive formula metal resistance calculation a inductor. By minimizing resistance, simple equation finding proper each coil is then presente...

Inductors are playing an ever-increasing role in RFICs, motivating extensive work on the development of structures to achieve optimized performance. In this paper we review the different approaches being explored to achieve high inductor Q and self-resonance frequency, in the context of conventional CMOS and BiCMOS processes, and examine how the application of RF MEMS techniques may effect supe...

This paper presents a four-stage CMOS distributed amplifier (DA) design implemented in standard 0.18 μm CMOS technology. The proposed design eliminates the need for transmission line capacitors and, consequently, uses significantly smaller spiral inductors compared with the previous designs. Using the minimum size inductor, the bandwidth of the amplifiers is extended, and the quality factors of...

This paper presents a 5.8 GHz fully integrated CMOS low noise amplifier (LNA) with on chip spiral inductors for wireless applications. Simulation results show that the noise figure (NF) of the proposed LNA at 5.8 GHz central frequency is only 0.972 dB, which is perfectly close to NFmin while maintaining the other performances. The LNA also has a power consumption of 6.4 mW, a gain of 17.04 dB, ...

A single-stage X-band MMIC power amplifier incorporating a SiGe/Si power HBT and lumped passive components is reported. The power HBT is characterized by an fmax of 67 GHz and a BVCBO of more than 24 V. The matching circuits were designed for maximum output power using on-chip spiral inductors and SiO MIM capacitors. Continuous wave measurements were made at 8.4 GHz, under class A operation. Th...

We propose a universal MEMS technology platform for fabricating integrable passive components for radio frequency (RF) integrated circuits. This platform is based on a novel surface-micromachined MicroElevator by Self-Assembly (MESA) techque. Both high-Q inductors and variable capacitors can be realized by the MESA technology. A surface-micromachined spiral inductor that is raised by 250 pm abo...