1 PhD student position within the project: PERFECT SDM in Netherlands | Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e)

A PhD student within the project:

PERFECT SDM: Power Efficient Radio-Frequency Extension of Continuous-Time Sigma-Delta Modulators

in the Mixed-signal Microelectronics (MSM) group, department of Electrical Engineering.

Research challenges

The aim of this project is to explore the bandwidth, resolution and sampling frequency limits of a continuous-time RF bandpass sigma-delta modulator to enable future integrated receivers for e.g. phased-array base-station and multi-standard radio applications.

The maximum bandwidth of current state-of-the-art sigma-delta modulators is around 100MHz, and the RF carrier frequency is up to a few GHz. Our aim is to investigate and realize a power efficient continuous-time RF bandpass sigma-delta ADC with an order of magnitude higher bandwidth and RF carrier frequency to enable future integrated multi-receiver applications. The fundamental challenges in this work are stability, noise, linearity and power efficiency at very high frequencies. Possible solutions can be found in e.g. delay compensation, cascading, parallelizing and time-interleaving, while getting the maximum benefits out of an advanced nano-scale CMOS technology in terms of speed and digital signal processing.

We approach this research from two angles:

• a wide-band track focusses on exploring the limits of the SDM signal bandwidth. Additional challenges are to provide a tunable carrier frequency of the conversion band and to investigate the fundamental relations between technology and the trade-off between linearity and bandwidth, while boosting the bandwidth;
• a high-resolution track focusses on the noise and linearity, and their relation to the power consumption; the trade-off between analog and digital processing accuracy is investigated with respect to their relation to the power efficiency. A main challenge is to investigate the fundamental relations between technology and the trade-off between linearity and bandwidth, while boosting the linearity.

In both tracks, test chips are planned to proof the concepts with the main attention to maximum bandwidth (wide-band track) and maximum resolution (high-resolution track). Per track two test chips are expected: the first test chips will demonstrate lowpass SDMs (respectively with focus on wide-band and high-resolution), the second test chips will be the bandpass SMDs.

For the wide-band track, there is already a PhD candidate active, but there still is an open position for a PhD candidate for the high-resolution track. For this high-resolution track, there is a proposal available for an optimized architecture of the first test chip.

Tasks

Tasks of the PhD student are:

• Literature study and system definition
• Research on high-resolution lowpass and bandpass SDM
• Test chip A design: high-resolution lowpass SDM
• PCB design, FPGA programming
• Evaluation, analysis, reporting/publication
• Research on high-resolution bandpass SDM
• Test chip B design: high-resolution bandpass SDM
• PCB design, FPGA programming
• Evaluation, analysis, reporting/publication
• Thesis writing

Requirements

Candidates for this challenging project should have a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering. He/she should have a strong affinity with mixed-signal circuit design and preferably have experience in the design of sigma-delta modulators. They should have good communication skills and be fluent in English, both in speaking and in writing.

Conditions of employment

We offer a challenging job at a dynamic and ambitious university through a fixed-term appointment for the period of 4 years. The research in this project must be concluded with the attainment of a Ph.D. degree. As an employee of the university you will receive a competitive salary as well as excellent employment conditions. A salary is offered starting at € 2125.- per month (gross) in the first year, increasing up to EUR 2717.- per month (gross) in the last year. Moreover, an 8% bonus share (holiday supplement) is provided annually. Assistance for finding accommodation can be given. The university offers an attractive package of fringe benefits such as excellent technical infrastructure, child care, savings schemes, and excellent sports facilities.

TU/e also offers you the opportunity for personal development by developing your social and communication skills. We do this by offering every PhD student a series of courses that are part of the Proof program as an excellent addition to your scientific education.

Additional information

Further information about the content can be obtained from:

dr. G.I. Radulov (Αυτή η διεύθυνση Email προστατεύεται από τους αυτοματισμούς αποστολέων ανεπιθύμητων μηνυμάτων. Χρειάζεται να ενεργοποιήσετε τη JavaScript για να μπορέσετε να τη δείτε.), dr.ir. J.A. Hegt (Αυτή η διεύθυνση Email προστατεύεται από τους αυτοματισμούς αποστολέων ανεπιθύμητων μηνυμάτων. Χρειάζεται να ενεργοποιήσετε τη JavaScript για να μπορέσετε να τη δείτε.), prof.dr.ir. L.J. Breems (Αυτή η διεύθυνση Email προστατεύεται από τους αυτοματισμούς αποστολέων ανεπιθύμητων μηνυμάτων. Χρειάζεται να ενεργοποιήσετε τη JavaScript για να μπορέσετε να τη δείτε.) and prof.dr.ir. A.H.M. van Roermund (Αυτή η διεύθυνση Email προστατεύεται από τους αυτοματισμούς αποστολέων ανεπιθύμητων μηνυμάτων. Χρειάζεται να ενεργοποιήσετε τη JavaScript για να μπορέσετε να τη δείτε.).

For information concerning employment conditions you can contact Ms. W.W.K. van Eck-de Vries (Αυτή η διεύθυνση Email προστατεύεται από τους αυτοματισμούς αποστολέων ανεπιθύμητων μηνυμάτων. Χρειάζεται να ενεργοποιήσετε τη JavaScript για να μπορέσετε να τη δείτε.) .