A Low Power, 8-bit, 200 MHz Digital-to-Analog Converter

Sam Blackman,  M.S. 1999. (advisor: Bob Brodersen)

The goal of this research was to design a low power 8-bit, 200 MHz digital-to-analog converter suitable for use in an integrated base station transmitter – and eventually in a transceiver. There were many challenges throughout the design process, including determining the matching requirements of the devices, investigating what percentage of segmentation should be used, and examining the signal-to-noise ratio vs. power tradeoff.

A filter and mixer that directly follow the digital-to-analog converter were fully designed. A prototype of the DAC, filter, and mixer that represented the RF front -end of a basestation transmitter on the same silicon was built in a .25 mm process. To test the chip, a 4-layer PCB board was also designed.