ECE 3113: Introduction to RF Circuit Design

A Term 2019

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Prof. Reinhold Ludwig

Last update: October 3, 2019

Calendar | Weekly Schedule | Projects | Homework | Exams

ECE 3113:	This course is designed to provide students with the basic principles of radio frequency (RF) circuit design. It concentrates on such topics as fundamental concepts of transmission line theory, high frequency circuit behavior, designing tuning and matching networks and power flow considerations for analog systems as encountered in cell phones, base stations, transceivers (Bluetooth), and wireless LAN (WLAN) equipment.

	Syllabus (including grading details)

Lectures:	AK233 MTWRF 9:00 – 9:50 am

Instructor:	Dr. Reinhold Ludwig, AK231 (2^nd floor Atwater Kent) Email: ludwig@wpi.edu , Tel: 508-831-5315, FAX: 508-831-5491

Teaching Assistant:	Ted MacLeod, AK014, tbmacleod@wpi.edu
Software:	Students are encouraged to use *MultiSim* along with *ADS* for all circuit simulations and demo projects.

Office Hours/Help Sessions (see also the weekly schedule):
	Reinhold Ludwig	AK231	MTRF 10:00 – 11:00 am (office hours)

	Ted MacLeod	AK108	We, 4pm – 6pm

Textbook:	R. Ludwig, G. Bogdanov, RF Circuit Design: Theory and Practice, 2^nd edition, Prentice Hall, 2009, ISBN-13: 9780131471375. Website.
Related texts:	G. Gonzales, Microwave Transistor Amplifiers: Analysis and Design, 2^nd edition, Prentice Hall, 1996. D.M. Pozar, Microwave Engineering, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 4^rd edition, 2009.

Grading:

	Each	Total
Exams 1 and 2	20%	40%
Final Exam	40%	40%
6 homeworks	2.5%	15%
RF Lab	5.0%	5%
		100%

Guidance: Grade A (≥ 85%), B (85%-60%), C (60%-50%). See syllabus for details.

Calendar

Click the lecture number for my class notes summary PDF.

Date	Day	Lecture	Topic	Reading	Homework
8/22	Th	01	Introduction and Logistics	01 - 06
8/23	F	02	RF Behavior of Passive Components	06 - 32
8/26	M	03	Transmission Line Analysis (Review)	41 - 51
8/27	T	04	General Transmission Line Equation	62 - 67
8/28	W	05	Lossless Transmission Line Model	67 - 78
8/29	Th	06	Special Termination Conditions	78 - 87	HW1 due @ 9am
8/30	F	07	Sourced and Loaded Transmission Lines	78 - 87	Sim1
9/02	M		Labour Day – No Class
9/03	T	08	From Reflection Coefficient to Load Impedance (Smith Chart)	103 - 111
9/04	W	09	Impedance Transformation	112 - 116
9/05	Th	Review	Review of Part I	01 - 116	HW2 due @ 9am
9/06	F	Exam 1	TL Fundamentals
9/09	M	10	Admittance and Combined Smith Chart	112 - 116
9/10	T	11	Parallel and Series Connections	123 - 127
9/11	W	12	Single- and Multi-Port Networks	127 - 137
9/12	Th	13	Network Properties	145 - 162
9/13	F	14	Scattering Parameters	163 - 169	HW3 due @ 9am
9/16	M	15	Measurements of Scattering Parameters	169 - 172	Sim 2
9/17	T	16	Scattering Parameters and Mismatched Source/Load	172 - 175
9/18	W	17	RF Filters	224 - 245
9/19	Th	Review	Review of Part II (Classes 10-17)	103 - 172	HW4 due @ 9am
9/20	F	Exam 2	Smith Chart, network analysis
9/23	M	18	RF Filters (cont.)	224 - 245
9/24	T	19	RF Transistor Models	298 - 306, 361 - 367
9/25	W	20	Matching Networks	367 - 415
9/26	Th	21	Matching Networks (cont.)	421 - 427
9/27	F	22	Matching Networks and Classes of Operation	428 - 439
9/30	M	23	Biasing and Operating Points	446 - 452, 458 - 463	HW5 due @ 9am
10/01	T	24	Power Flow of RF Active and Passive Devices	463 - 479
10/02	W	25	Stability/Constant Gain	485 - 492
10/03	Th	26	One-Stage RF Amplifier Design Example	492 - 510
10/04	F	27	Amplifier Design Example	PPTs
10/07	M	28	Mixer/Osc. Design Examples	Handouts
10/08	T		Review of Course	Handouts	HW6 due @ 9am
10/09	W	Final Exam	Cumulative Exam		Sim 3 due
10/10	Th	-	Celebration – Boynton!

Weekly Schedule (last week of course)

	Sun	Mon 10/07	Tue 10/08	Wed 10/09	Th 10/10	Fri	Sat
8 – 9
9 – 10		Lecture AK233	Summary AK233 HW6 due	Final Exam AK233
10 – 11		RL AK231	RL AK231	RL AK231
11 – 12
12 – 1
1 – 2
2 – 3
3 – 4
4 – 5			TA AK108
5 – 6			TA AK 108		Boynton (“Serenity now”)
6 – 7
7 – 8

Lab project demonstrations

RF measurement equipment and circuit demonstrations. Scheduled on a per-student, per-project basis. See syllabus for details.

Homework

No late submissions, please. We will not distribute solutions. If you are unsure about a problem/solution, please talk to the staff.

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Homework 1. Due 08/29/2019
Homework 2. Due 09/05/2019
Homework 3. Due 09/14/2019
Homework 4. Due 09/19/2019
Homework 5. Due 09/30/2019
Homework 6. Due 10/08/2019

Exams

Closed book, closed notes; bring a calculator. You are allowed one 8.5” x 11” sheet of your own hand-written notes: no printouts or photocopies, please attach notes to the exam. See syllabus for details.

Exam 1: Friday, 9/06/2019
Exam 2: Friday, 9/20/2019.
Final: Wednesday, 10/09/2019.