CCSS: Intrinsically-Linear Loadline-Envelope-Tracking (LET) Radio Transmitter Toward Wideband, Energy-Efficient, and Ultra-Fast Wireless Communications

CCSS：本质线性负载线包络跟踪 (LET) 无线电发射机，实现宽带、节能和超快速无线通信

基本信息

批准号：
1914875
负责人：
Kenle Chen
金额：
$ 29.36万
依托单位：
The University of Central Florida Board of Trustees
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2019
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2019-09-01 至 2024-08-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1914875&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
CCSS Intrinsically Linear Loadline Envelope

项目摘要

The wireless communications of 5G and beyond facilitate unprecedented quality of service such as ultrahigh speed and low latency. However, this evolution is inevitably accompanied by severe energy inefficiency mainly due to the degraded efficiency of radio-frequency (RF) power amplifiers (PAs) that are the most power-consuming module in wireless systems. On the other hand, the existing efficiency-enhancement technology, e.g., industry-standard envelope tracking, is expected to become ineffective when accommodating increasingly wide modulation bandwidth of signals. The overarching goal of this research is to investigate and demonstrate a new architecture of wideband, highly efficient, and intrinsically linearized PA and radio transmitter as a key enabler to next-generation energy-saving and ultra-fast wireless communications. The successful completion of the proposed research will mark a milestone of breaking the bandwidth limitation on PA efficiency and linearity, which crucially contributes to the growth of wireless and semiconductor industries. It is important to emphasize that the enhancement of PA efficiency will significantly reduce the energy consumption of entire wireless networks with improved environmental friendliness. Moreover, the proposed silicon-integration method provides an ideal solution to the high-cost, non-integrability, and limited-manufacturing-capacity issues of radio frontend development faced by industry. This is expected to be critical in expediting the dissemination of emerging technologies and in expanding the wireless connections from finite number of people to nearly infinite number of things (i.e., Internet of Everything). Furthermore, this research will provide foundational support to wireless and semiconductor industries by training next-generation young professionals and through collaborations and data sharing. Impacts of this research will be further broadened and prolonged through educational and inspiring outreach efforts.The next-generation wireless communications will feature wideband, high speed and low latency, which leads to extreme challenges for efficiency and linearity of RF PAs and transmitters. This project proposes a transformative concept called Loadline-Envelope-Tracking (LET) Transmitter Architecture. By shifting the paradigm of envelope tracking (ET) from the existing supply-modulation technique to the new loadline-modulation technique, this new architecture not only holds the promise to fundamentally break the bandwidth and linearity limitations imposed on existing PA efficiency-enhancement technologies, but it also inherits the advanced features of the industry-standard ET system. This research pursues the following key innovations: 1) The novel radio transmitter architecture based on loadline envelope tracking enabling wideband efficiency enhancement and intrinsic linearization of RF PAs, a significant technological leap forward in wireless communications. 2) An innovative RF-analog-digital co-design methodology to concurrently achieve optimized efficiency and linearity of PA, eliminating the necessity of external digital linearization that can be energy inefficient under wide modulation bandwidths. 3) The first-ever revealing of the speed/bandwidth limiting factors for loadline modulation and the corresponding circuit and system design methodology. 4) A silicon-integration method based on high-voltage Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (HV-CMOS) process to integrate the entire LET transmitter frontend involving PA, tunable matching network, and high-speed loadline modulator, leading to the first-ever fully integrated, massively manufacturable, and low-cost single-chip solution.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

5G 及更高版本的无线通信可实现前所未有的服务质量，例如超高速和低延迟。然而，这种演进不可避免地伴随着严重的能源效率低下，这主要是由于无线系统中最耗电的模块射频（RF）功率放大器（PA）的效率下降造成的。另一方面，当适应越来越宽的信号调制带宽时，现有的效率增强技术（例如行业标准包络跟踪）预计将变得无效。这项研究的总体目标是研究和展示一种宽带、高效和本质线性化 PA 和无线电发射机的新架构，作为下一代节能和超高速无线通信的关键推动者。拟议研究的成功完成将标志着打破 PA 效率和线性度带宽限制的里程碑，这对无线和半导体行业的增长做出了至关重要的贡献。需要强调的是，PA效率的提升将显着降低整个无线网络的能耗，提高环境友好性。此外，所提出的硅集成方法为工业界面临的无线电前端开发的高成本、不可集成性和有限制造能力的问题提供了理想的解决方案。预计这对于加快新兴技术的传播以及将无线连接从有限数量的人扩展到几乎无限数量的事物（即万物互联）至关重要。此外，这项研究还将通过培训下一代年轻专业人员以及通过合作和数据共享为无线和半导体行业提供基础支持。这项研究的影响将通过教育和鼓舞人心的推广工作进一步扩大和延长。下一代无线通信将具有宽带、高速和低延迟的特点，这对射频功率放大器和发射器的效率和线性度提出了严峻的挑战。该项目提出了一种称为负载线包络跟踪 (LET) 发射器架构的变革性概念。通过将包络跟踪 (ET) 范式从现有的电源调制技术转变为新的负载线调制技术，这种新架构不仅有望从根本上打破现有 PA 效率增强技术所施加的带宽和线性度限制，但它也继承了行业标准ET系统的先进功能。这项研究追求以下关键创新： 1) 基于负载线包络跟踪的新型无线电发射器架构，可实现宽带效率增强和射频 PA 的固有线性化，这是无线通信领域的重大技术飞跃。 2) 创新的射频-模拟-数字协同设计方法，可同时实现 PA 的优化效率和线性度，消除了外部数字线性化的必要性，而外部数字线性化在宽调制带宽下可能会导致能源效率低下。 3) 首次揭示负载线调制的速度/带宽限制因素以及相应的电路和系统设计方法。 4) 基于高压互补金属氧化物半导体 (HV-CMOS) 工艺的硅集成方法，集成了整个 LET 发射器前端，包括 PA、可调谐匹配网络和高速负载线调制器，从而实现了有史以来第一个完全该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。