A CMOS POWER AMPLIFIER FOR UHF RFID READER SYSTEMS

FINAL REPORT

Table of Contents
Abstract ..................................................................................................................................................... 2 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3 Analysis, Design, and Practical Realization: .................................................................................................. 5 Circuit and Results from the Article: ......................................................................................................... 5 Circuit from the Article: ........................................................................................................................ 5 Results from the Article: ....................................................................................................................... 7 Experiment Circuit Design and Results ..................................................................................................... 8 Results from Pspice Simulation:............................................................................................................ 8 Results in comparison to the Articles results ...................................................................................... 10 Summary and Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 11 Analysis summary and results discussion .............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Conclusion .............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. References: ............................................................................................................................................. 11

Abstract
This paper represents a CMOS single-ended output power amplifier which will be for use for UHF (Ultrahigh frequency) RFID reader systems. This circuit will go on the reader chip. The structure of the circuit contains a double-staged amplification process in order to provide linearity with its class-A operation. The originators of this circuit used Korean technology Mosfets of 0.13um in implementation, however, I only had access to 0.18um, so I adjusted my circuit according to that. The papers circuit optimal operational frequency is at 900MHz, but my circuits optimal operational frequency is at 1.6GHz as determined through pspice simulations. I ran several trials of my circuit at optimal frequency in order to determine the effect of different amplitude input voltages of a 1.6GHz signal on the output voltage, the output power, and the power gain of the circuit.

Introduction
My report is on a CMOS RF UHF RFID Power Amplifier that is being made to use RFID Readers. RFID, which is an abbreviation for Radio-Frequency Identification, is technology that works by transmitting the identity of a particular object or person, based upon a very unique serial number, by way of radio waves. An RFID System consists of 3 main parts: 1. The RFID Tag (Transponder)

Figure 1 RFID Tag from Apple

The RFID Tag contains the identification information of the object or person. The information is electronically stored and can be read up to several meters away. Some may need to be battery powered; however, some now depend on the energy of electromagnetic fields alone to transmit the information.1 2. The Reader/Antenna (Interrogator)

Figure 2 RFID Reader from Gaorfid

The RFID Reader is the component that wills the RFID Tag will detect when it is in the RFID Readers activation zone. The RFID Reader contains a chip that is responsible for processing the signal emitted from the RFIG tag itself. The chip will then emit an amplified version of the signal read in initially, to an antenna which will transmit those radio waves to something that can further process them.1

4 3. Computer and Software (Infrastructure)

Figure 3 RFID Handheld Computer from Pideon

The Computer system receives the information from the reader/antenna and processes the information. It basically serves as a decoder for the information that is on the RFID tags silicon chip.1

Complete structure of an RFID System1 My circuit is the power amplifier that goes on the RFID UHF (Ultra-High Frequency) reader. The RF power amplifier for UHF reader systems requires high gain with linearity, hence why the circuit is constructed with double stage structure.2

Analysis, Design, and Practical Realization:

Circuit and Results from the Article:
Circuit from the Article:

The gain stage consists of the active DC bias circuit, transistor M1, and RF choke inductor, L2. The power stage also consists of the active DC bias circuit, transistor M2, and RF choke inductor, L3. The gain stage is a double-staged structure, as shown by the dotted box. The resistors R1, R2, R3 and R4, as well as transistors M3 and M4, are for reference current generation. Capacitors C2 and C4 are for blocking DC voltages from passing through, hence, only the sinusoidal signal components of the Rin will be allowed to pass. Essentially, C1 and L1, and the equal counterpart C4 and L4, serve as filters for the circuit to allow only high frequencies to pass through. Some values were not given in the article, however, through analysis of the circuit with Professor Newcomb, as well as Pspice parametric runs, based on the fact that if the DC Voltage Bias of 3.3V should yield approximately 2 Volt Potential at the node connecting M3 and R1, and also M4 and R2, then resistances R3 and R4 can be determined by running a parametric run on them with the results being Voltage at Node M3-R1 and M4-R2, vs. Resistance sweep of R3 and R4 respectively. Capacitors C1 and C4, and Inductors L1 and L4 were also not specified in the article, however, from analysis of the way a CMOS RF Amplifier works, the connections of C1-L1 and C4-L4 clearly yield a highpass filter. Radio-Frequency, especially one for RFID reader systems employ the use of high-pass filters to allow only Signals with a frequencies in the range of 30MHz to 3GHz, and even above in some cases through. Based on that notion, as well as the fact that the impedance by one of these connections is given by the formula ZLC Filter= 1 / (jL (j/C)), an inductance L that is relatively small, something in the range of picohenrys, as well as a capacitance that is relatively high, something in the range of

6 nanofarads, will yield an impedance that is very high when , which is related by the relationship = 2f, where f = FrequencyInput Signal, is low, which in turn means the frequency is very low. The filter will produce an impedance that is low when the frequency is very high, causing to be high, which in turn means that high-frequency signals will have the ability to pass through the filter. Small Signal Analysis of the Circuit

7 Results from the Article:

Experiment Circuit Design and Results

Results from Pspice Simulation: Trial 1 Pspice DC Voltages

Pspice DC Currents

9 Frequency Response
Ultra High Frequency Response Simulated from 1GHz to 5Ghz Logarithmically

Extremely High Frequency Response Simulated from 1GHz to 300GHz Logarithmically

The UHF Response of the circuit yielded a peak voltage when the input frequency was 1.6GHz. From knowledge of RFID Tags, essentially that means that the signal that the RFID tag will emit will be at a frequency of 1.6GHz in order for the RFID reader chip to detect it and continue the processing of it.

10 The EHF response of the circuit showed that when an input signal of 300GHz is applied to the circuit, the response will yield almost approximately the input signals amplitude. The amplitude of the input signal was 2mV, and the EHF response for the output voltage was 1.4mV. Results in comparison to the Articles results
Trial Input Input Power # Voltage (Calculated) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 0.001 0.01 0.2 0.5 0.7 1 2 5 7 10 20 Input Output Output Voltage Voltage Gain Power gain Power voltage Voltage Gain (V/V) (dBm) (dBm) Amplitude (dBm) (dBm) -0.000001642 -57.78 0.000003 -108.24 0.003 -48.24 1.8733125649 0.000015 0.0016 0.0058 0.015 0.03 0.15 1 1.75 2.5 4.2 10 17 -94.26 -53.7 -42.51 0.0015 0.008 0.0116 -54.26 -39.72 2.4949708841 1.6908060453 -0.065681445 -31.76 -0.4105090312 -0.8045977011 -1.6420361248 -6.5681444992 -41.0509031199 -3.8 -0.88 2.22 8.24 16.2

-0.0001642036 -37.78

-36.49 11.1868421053 -31.16 38.9318181818 -28.24 12.7207207207 -20.28 -1.7305825243 -11.76 -9.82 -9.82 -11.34 -11.76 -13.17 0.137037037 0.370292887 0.4581458146 0.5198300283 0.6138121547 0.6354808148

-34.26 0.0214285714 -28.24 -14.26 2.22 7.08 10.18 14.68 22.22 26.83 0.03 0.075 0.2 0.25 0.25 0.21 0.2 0.17

-80.4597701149 19.12 -164.2036124795 22.22 -656.8144499179 28.24

50 -4105.0903119869 36.2 100 42.22 16420.3612479475

11

Summary and Conclusion

From testing incrementing inputs of the signal voltage, my results showed that the voltage gain increased as I increased the input signal voltage. As far as my results compare to the results in the paper, the Power Gain vs. the Input Power results I got were similar to the results that the paper had. In terms of the values, the power gain for my circuit was mostly in the negative portion, however, the results in the paper had mostly positive power gain. The behavior of the power gain though from -30dBm to 30dBm was similar to the articles results. I am concluding that it was the difference in Mosfet technology that caused for the difference in results for my circuit. Even though I believed to have properly calibrated for these differences by getting help from Professor Newcomb, unfortunately the results did not come out the same. Despite my results not being carbon-copies of the results from the article, my circuit does in fact behave as it should, an RF Amplifier operating in the Ultra-High Frequency region.

References:
Sources [1] Association for Automatic Identification and Mobility. What is RFID Internet: http://www.aimglobal.org/technologies/rfid/what_is_rfid.asp, 2011, [Apr. 29, 2012]. [2] S. Han, M. Kim, Y. Yang (2011, Feb.). A CMOS Power Amplifier for UHF RFID Reader Systems. IEEXplore. [Online]. pp. 57-60. Available: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=05745744 [Apr. 30, 2012] [3] Wikipedia. RF power amplifier Internet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RF_power_amplifier, 2011, [Apr. 29, 2012]. Sources of Figures: Figure 1 - http://news.softpedia.com Figure 2 - http://www.gaorfid.com/ Figure 3 - http://mypidion.com/