On-chip antennas using standard CMOS technology: A brief overview

Abstract

This paper depicts the present status of on on-chip antennas in standard CMOS technology. Antenna is the key component of RF front-end circuit. At higher frequencies, size of the antenna is reduced to few millimeters that makes integration of the antenna feasible with other electronic components on the same substrate (silicon). The on-chip antenna needs to meet various requirements such as compact size, good operating bandwidth and good radiation efficiency. This paper focuses on the challenges for on-chip antenna design. The main purpose of the paper is to give an overview of the current research works carried out in the recent past. This will help the readers to implement a true ‘system-on-chip’ (SoC) for general purpose communication, RF sensor application etc.