Technologies and design of low-power RF microsystems

Portable RF communications devices are a fast-growing market segment. Typically battery operated, these devices demand technologies that support low-voltage, low-power operation. Considering that system dimensions are continually shrinking, an RF technology must also be amenable to integration with logic or mixed-signal circuitry leading to complex RF microsystems. In this paper, the technologies and design of RF microsystems are described with respect to the primary competitors: Si CMOS, Si BJT, SiGe HBT, and GaAs MESFET, HEMT, and HBT. The evaluations clearly identify the direction of RF microsystems development into the next millennium. A case study is also presented of an RF microsystem comprised of a processor core and a wireless RF transceiver.