Research On Phaseless Low-Noise Amplifiers

15 May 2023

Job Information

Organisation/Company

Université de Limoges

Department

DRH-RECHERCHE

Research Field

Engineering » Design engineering

Physics » Electromagnetism

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

France

Application Deadline

11 Jun 2023 - 23:59 (Europe/Paris)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Full-time

Offer Starting Date

2 Oct 2023

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

European Union / Next Generation EU

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

General context

The KDT JU co-funded project SHIFT (Sustainable Technologies Enabling Future Telecom Applications) started in December 2022 with the aim of reaching four main objectives:

Develop new Semiconductor and packaging Technologies for very high frequencies, achieving better energy efficiency and output power;

Develop new Semiconductor Technology platforms associated with these semiconductor technologies, with corresponding tests, characterization, and modelling methodologies needed for very high frequencies;

Demonstrate the progress of the new semiconductor technologies by innovative and competitive System Demonstrators that will integrate MMICs designed with the developed and proposed semiconductor technologies, covering domains for:

Wireless (network access and backhaul) and Fiber optics Telecommunication systems;

Satellite telecommunication and Earth Observation systems;

Demonstrate the economic and operational impact of these systems while reducing their environmental impact.

Supported by 43 partners, SHIFT aims to make important contributions to the "twin transition", through innovations in component and system technologies for advanced telecommunications. SHIFT consortium will develop innovative semiconductor and packaging technologies and their validation with demonstrators for telecommunication areas such as 5GNR (Beyond 5G) and 6G wireless network access and backhaul, ultra-high speed optical links between servers, satellite telecommunications, and Earth observation. SHIFT will also contribute to environmental and societal concerns, with an analysis of the life cycle of telecommunications products, through their manufacturing chain, their operational use, and their recycling. Finally, SHIFT project supports Europe's will for sovereignty in semiconductors, by accelerating the development and dissemination of new European technologies, and by enabling many young engineers and researchers to train, thanks to the most recent results. Thus, SHIFT is an ambitious project and sustainable development for innovative European companies.

The “RF systems” axis from XLIM (UMR CNRS – Université de Limoges) is involved in this European project and is working with SAFRAN and ASYGN on the “Earth Observation in X-band” demonstrator. The researchers are working on innovating Low Noise Amplifier solutions and on the optimization of a hybrid Planar Active Antenna (PAA) architecture using both analog and digital beamforming capabilities for tracking and receiving data from LEO satellites. The energy efficiency of the PAA and the overall integration of the components and circuits developed by the partners will be key factors in the design and optimization of this demonstrator.

To this aim, two PhD opportunities are available at University of Limoges, France. This specifical offer is dedicated to the research on RFIC design.

Background

In the development of large antenna arrays, the active SWR presented to the front end circuits on transmit or receive is a fundamental criterion. This phenomenon is explained by the coupling of reflected waves on the circuits between the radiating elements when the beamsteering is important. In severe cases, this phenomenon can cause the failure of electronic circuits. The design methods of the radiating element arrays developed at XLIM allow to take into account a constraint on the maximum acceptable value of the active SWR in the frequency band. However, this phenomenon can occur out-of-band, especially in the receiving path. As the AESA will not drastically filter all the out of band possible signals, the behavior of the active elements of the receiver in band for the targeted frequency range and also out of band is a critical point.

Objectives

In this context, the researchers of the CCSNL team propose to develop a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) circuit matched in-band AND out-of-band in order to minimize potential parasitic standing waves in the panel. This concept, inspired by the "Reflectionless Filters", will use dynamic filtering and matching techniques. To implement these concepts for an X-band telecommunication application, it is necessary to use an integrated technology allowing to obtain high efficiency and high quality factor passive elements. We therefore propose to explore this concept using the BiCMOS 55X technology developed by ST microelectronics in this project.

The main milestones of the PhD work are:

A bibliographic work on reflectionless circuits will be done along with first attempts of CAD implementation expected to evaluate promising topologies.

Design of a reflectionless LNA, to be manufactured and characterized.

Design of beamforming enabling circuits such as phase shifters to validate the proposed concept in the context of a small demonstration array.

The candidate will join a team that is working since several years on the topic of RFICs design, in a group working on antenna and RFIC integration for phased array design. This unique environment will give opportunity to cover integrated active and passive circuit design, packaging and characterization as well as background on antenna concerns.

PhD profile

The recruited PhD student should have a Master 2 degree (or an engineering degree) with a specialization in Electromagnetism, Antennas, Microwaves, High Frequency Electronics. Strong knowledge in electromagnetism, circuit theory, as well as in the use of commercial integrated circuits CAD software will be required. A good level of spoken and written English is required.

Supervision and contacts to apply

PhD Director: Bruno Barelaud, [email protected]

Co-supervisor: Julien Lintignat, [email protected]

Candidates should send by email a CV and their academic transcripts

Main location: XLIM Limoges, France

Starting date : 01 october/01 november 2023.

References

A. Lohou, D. Chaimbault, B. Lesur, A. Karas, J. Lintignat, B. Jarry, “Ka-band MMIC Variable Gain Low Noise Amplifier for Electronic Scanning Antenna”, 2018 25th IEEE International Conference on Electronics, Circuits and Systems (ICECS) , 337-340, 2018, IEEE

C. Menudier, J. Lintignat, S. Mons, P. Médrel, N. Delhote, E. Ngoya, S. Bila, M. Thévenot, B. Jarry, P. Gamand, “Design and optimization of multielement antennas and RF circuits for beamforming with a reduced number of RF Front-ends”, 2018 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Workshop Series on 5G Hardware and System Technologies (IMWS-5G) ,1-3,2018,IEEE

D. Psychogiou and R. Gómez-García, "Reflectionless Adaptive RF Filters: Bandpass, Bandstop, and Cascade Designs," IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques , vol. 65, no. 11, pp. 4593-4605, Nov. 2017, doi: 10.1109/TMTT.2017.2734086.

Z. Deng, H. J. Qian, X. Luo, “A Reflectionless Receiver With Absorptive IF Amplifier and Dual-Path Noise-Canceling LNA”, IEEE Journal Of Solid-state Circuits, Vol.57, N° 8, 2309 – 2319, 2022

Requirements

Research Field

Engineering » Electronic engineering

Education Level

Master Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

The recruited PhD student should have a Master 2 degree (or an engineering degree) with a specialization in Electromagnetism, Antennas, Microwaves, High Frequency Electronics. Strong knowledge in electromagnetism, circuit theory, as well as in the use of commercial integrated circuits CAD software will be required. A good level of spoken and written English is required.

Specific Requirements

Strong knowledge in electromagnetism, circuit theory, as well as in the use of commercial integrated circuits CAD software will be required

Languages

ENGLISH

Level

Good

Additional Information

Website for additional job details

https: // www. shiftkdt.eu/

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

XLIM - University of Limoges

Country

France

City

Limoges

Postal Code

87060

Geofield

Where to apply

E-mail

[email protected]

Contact

City

Limoges

Website

https: // www. unilim.fr/

https: // www. xlim.fr/

Street

33 Rue François Mitterrand

Postal Code

87000

E-Mail

[email protected]

[email protected]

STATUS: EXPIRED