EE5402 RF Circuit Design I

by Dr Shi Bo
Institute for Communications Research
20 Science Park Road,
#02-34/37, TeleTech Park,
Singapore Science Park II,
Singapore 117674
Tel: 6870 9126. Fax: 6779 5441
Email: shibo@icr.a-star.edu.sg

Contents:

Chapter 1. RF Components
Chapter 2. Resonant Circuit
Chapter 3. RF Filter Design
Chapter 4. Impedance Matching Networks
Chapter 5. Linear RF Amplifier
Chapter 6. Oscillator
Chapter 7: Mixer
Chapter 1. RF Components
At radio frequencies, circuit elements and components should be
considered more carefully as they may not behave as intended/expected.

1. Wire
Used in wire-wound resistors/inductors, axial/radial-leaded capacitors,
interconnections, etc. The behavior of a wire at RF depends largely on the
wire length and diameter.

Skin effect:

At low frequency, charge carriers make use of the entire conductor

cross-section as a transport medium. As the frequency increases, an
increased magnetic field at the center of the conductor presents a high
impedance to the charge carriers, thus decreasing the current density at
the center while increasing the current density around its perimeter.
This increased current density near the edge of the conductor is known
as skin effect.

Skin depth ():

Skin depth is the depth into the conductor at which the current density
falls to 1/e, or 37% of its value along the surface, = 1 / f .
Because of this skin depth, the resistance of a wire will be higher at
high frequencies than at dc.

1
2. Resistors
Resistance is the property that determines the rate at which electrical
energy is converted into heat energy for a given electric current.

Resistors are used everywhere in circuits, as transistor bias networks,

pads, and signal combiners.

The equivalent circuit of a resistor at RF includes parasitic capacitance

and lead/wire inductances.

Fig.1-1: Resistor equivalent circuit at RF

3. Capacitors
Capacitance is the property that permits the storage of a charge when a
potential difference exists between the conductors.

Capacitors are used extensively in RF applications, such as bypassing,

interstage coupling, and in resonant circuits and filters. Some
capacitor types: ceramic, mica, metalized-film.

The RF equivalent circuit of a capacitor with capacitance C accounts

for heat-dissipation loss resistance Rs, insulation resistance Rp and
lead/plate inductances L. At frequencies above the series resonant
frequency, the capacitor actually acts like an inductor.

Fig.1-2: Capacitor equivalent circuit at RF

2
 Fig.1-3: Impedance characteristic of a capacitor vs. frequency.

4. Inductors
Inductance is that property of circuits which causes them to oppose
any change in the current flowing through them. The opposition is in
the form of a back emf that is developed when the current is changed.

The concept of inductance is important because any and all conductors

at radio frequencies tend to exhibit the property of inductance, e.g. a
straight round wire exhibits self-inductance

L = 0.002l [2.303 log( 4l ) 1 + r ]
d 4
where
L = the low-frequency inductance in H
l = the length of wire in cm
d = the diameter of wire in cm
r = the relative permeability of wire materia

Inductors are usually in a manner of wire wound or coiled in order to

increase the magnetic flux linkage between the turns of the coil and,
consequently, to increase the wires self-inductance.

Inductors are used extensively in RF design in resonant circuits,

filters, phase shift and delay networks, and as RF chokes used to
prevent, or at least reduce, the flow of RF energy along a certain path.

3
 The equivalent circuit of an inductor includes coil series resistance Rs
and the distributed interwinding capacitance Cd. At frequencies above
the parallel resonant frequency, the inductor actually looks more like a
capacitor.

Fig.1-4: Inductor equivalent circuit at RF

Fig.1-5: Impedance characteristic of an inductor vs. frequency.