Practical RF Circuit Design for Modern Wireless Systems, Volume I : Passive Circuits and Systems [Hardcover]

Les Besser (Author), Rowan Gilmore (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1580535216 | ISBN-13: 978-1580535212 | Publication Date: October 31, 2003

The first of a two-volume set, this leading-edge book takes a practical approach to RF circuit design, offering a complete understanding of the fundamental concepts you need to know and use for your work in this industry. The book lays the ground work for efficient RF circuit design in a step-by-step approach, by defining important principles and parameters and progressively introducing critical analytical tools. It helps you distinguish between RF and low frequency circuits, and offers a detailed look at a typical RF system. This is a tested and insightful book that contains answers to most of the questions practical engineers are asking. The first volume reviews various computer-aided simulation, synthesis, and optimization techniques used in modern RF and microwave design, and discusses the practical use of the graphical design tools, such as the Smith Chart.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Les Besser is chairman of Besser Associates, a continuing education organization. A Life Fellow of the IEEE where he held various offices and received awards and recognition for past accomplishments. He holds Ph.D. , M.S. and B.S. in EE. Dr. Besser authored the first commercially successful microwave circuit optimization routine and founded Compact Software (now part of Ansoft), a pioneer group in RF/MW CAE. A "Master Lecturer," he is currently heading an organization dedicated to continuing education through instructor-led and Internet-based short courses, CD- and video-taped presentations.

His company has trained nearly 50,000 engineers since the mid 1980s.

Rowan Gilmore is an experienced consulting engineer who introduced the world’s first commercial harmonic-balance CAD simulator while Vice-President Engineering at Compact Software. He has held numerous design and management posts in industry, including Central Microwave, Schlumberger, Telstra and SITA. A senior member of the IEEE, he holds a D.Sc. and MSEE degrees from Washington University in St. Louis, and a B.E. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. He has nearly fifteen years of teaching experience with Besser Associates and CEI Europe.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 566 pages
• Publisher: Artech Print on Demand (October 31, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580535216
• ISBN-13: 978-1580535212
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,145,350 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This review appeared in High Frequency Electronics, March 9, 2004

By 

Guillermo Gonzalez (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Practical RF Circuit Design for Modern Wireless Systems, Volume I : Passive Circuits and Systems (Hardcover)

These books were written by two well-known lectures in the RF/MW field with many years of teaching experience. Their goal was to provide a practical exposition of circuit design in the RF/MW field that appealed to students, academicians, and design engineers. They certainly succeeded. The reader will find that fundamental and advanced principles are properly explained with emphasis in CAD techniques. While the mathematical manipulations are kept to a minimum, the associated results are well referenced and extensively discussed.

Volume I:
This volume focuses mainly on passive circuits and systems. The first two chapters provide a review of RF/MW circuit fundamentals. The emphasis is placed on topics related to RF/MW circuits, such a resonance, series and parallel conversions, quality factor, power transfer, transmission lines, reflection coefficients, and mismatch loss. Chapter 3 describes several radio systems and illustrates how the system's specifications relate to the various individual components. Receiver's characteristics are discussed, such as receiver noise and sensitivity, nonlinearities and dynamic range, and automatic control. The chapter includes the analysis of a CDMA handset from a system point of view. Chapters 4 and 5 describe the use of S parameters, the Smith chart, impedance matching networks, and bandwidth considerations. Many impedance matching design examples are provided with their associated frequency responses. Both lumped and microstrip matching circuits are considered. Chapter 6 shows the use of CAD programs for RF/MW circuit design. This chapter underlines the major key areas in CAD, such as linear circuit analysis, electromagnetic simulation, tuning, synthesis, optimization, non-linear simulations, and statistical techniques. Passive component models are discussed in Chapter 7, which include RLC components, distributed components, transformers, crystals, dielectric resonators, and surface acoustic wave resonators. The authors show how actual parts affect the behavior of a design, and how to account for them in the final product. Chapter 8 gives an overview of passive filters and the techniques used for their design in the RF/MW area. Such topics as the Richards' transformation, Norton transformations, and Kuroda identities are discussed. Chapter 9 is an overview of the major differences and similarities between RF and high-speed digital systems.

Volume II:
This volume focuses mainly on active circuits and systems. The volume begins with a discussion of linear RF/MW amplifier design techniques. The first two chapters deal with stability conditions, stability circles and the various design techniques for transducer gain, operating power gain, and associated gain. Material in low-noise amplifier design and broadband techniques is included, as well as dc considerations. Chapter 3 discusses the modeling of the actual devices (such as BJT, GaAs, HETM, etc). Chapter 4 deals with nonlinear CAD simulations techniques, and their uses. Time and frequency domain methods are discussed and compared. A good discussion of the harmonic balance method is given, including a section on harmonic balance simulation of oscillators. Chapter 5 considers the topic of power transistor amplifiers. The categories of amplifiers are presented and the topics of bias considerations, distortion reduction and predistortion are included. The chapter includes a detailed power amplifier design. Oscillators are discussed in Chapter 6, with emphasis on the negative resistance design approach and CAD simulations. A section is devoted to the description of phase noise. Several design examples are included. An interesting example uses a ceramic resonator, another example involves a crystal resonator, and one example deals with a Colpitts VCO using a varactor diode. Chapter 7 deals with mixers and frequency multipliers. The authors discuss diodes and transistor mixers and their effect on the overall system. The final chapter gives an overview of several wireless systems.

The material covered in these two volumes extends from the basic to the advance. The texts are suitable for short courses in RF/MW circuits, since they provide a comprehensive description of the RF/MW circuit design field. They are also suitable for a course (or courses) at the senior/graduate level in the RF/MW field. The books strongly emphasize design and the use of CAD techniques. Enough information is provided in their CAD examples that the simulations can easily be implemented with one of the major CAD programs available for RF/MW circuits.

These texts contain a tremendous amount of information for RF/MW circuit designers. Especially, for those working in wireless communications. Discrete design is covered in detail-from the individual component specification to the overall system performance. The presentation is clear and well organized. It certainly makes for a good addition to the designer's library.