Prerequisites

EC201 Analog circuits, EC204 Networks and Systems; Basics of continuous-time and discrete-time signals and systems; Basics of transmission lines; Knowledge of MOS transistor basics related to circuit design, small signal equivalent circuits, small and large signal analysis; Design of building blocks-basic amplifier stages, differential pairs, and bias generators;

Objectives

The term "broadband" refers to the class of signals which have significant spectral energy from very low frequencies to the data rate of the signal. i.e. signals that are not modulated on a carrier whose frequency far exceeds the bandwidth. Broadband digital communication links over a variety of physical media-printed circuit boards, cables, optical fibres-are ubiqutous, e.g Ethernet, USB. Frequency dependent loss of the transmission media can result in severe degradation of the signal and the digital levels can no longer be detected correctly at the receiver. Equalization is necessary at one or both ends of the link in order to correctly decode the digital data. This course aims to provide an understanding of signal degradation, techniques to combat them, and integrated circuit implementation of these techniques.

Course contents

Digital signal transmission; Drivers and receivers for low frequencies; Serialization and Deserialization; Digital signal transmission over lossy and dispersive channels; Eye diagrams; Eye closure; crosstalk, and jitter; Equalization: Linear and non-linear equalizers; Integrated circuit implementation of broadband ampliers for transmission and reception, feedforward and decision feedback equalization; Synchronization: clock and data recovery circuits using phase locked loops and delay locked loops;

Workload(weightage)

• Assignments/final project(30%): Biweekly assignments through the semester dealing with theory, design, and simulation of data converters. The assignments can be submitted individually or jointly. For joint submissions, the credit will be scaled down. Copying will be severely penalized.
• Mid term exam(20%)-29 Sep. 2007
• Paper presentation(20%): You'll be required to read a paper from the Journal of Solid State Circuits or the International Solid State Circuits conference and deliver a 15 minute presentation to the class. This will be scheduled in the last 2-3 weeks of the semester.
• Final exam(30%)-23 Nov. 2007

Text book

The course doesn't follow a single textbook. See the references page for relevant books and papers.