RF CMOS comes of age

Abstract

All-CMOS radio transceivers and systems-on-a-chip are rapidly making inroads on a wireless market that for years was dominated by bipolar and BiCMOS solutions. It is not a matter of replacing bipolar transistors in known circuit topologies with FETs; the wave of RF CMOS brings with it new architectures and unprecedented levels of integration. What are its origins? What is the commercial impact? How will RF CMOS evolve in the future? This paper offers a retrospective and a perspective.