Seyed Kasra Garakoui

Designing a general purpose CMOS IC which does beamforming at different frequencies

What is beamforming: In communication systems ,the duty of an antenna is to receive or transmit the electromagnetic waves from or to the sky. For beamforming (Fig 1), there are several antennas beside each other. Each antenna approximately operates individually . By applying phase shifting or time delaying effects on the signals of each antenna and then summing the results with each other, a beam pattern will be produced for the total array. By changing the phase or time delay of the signals the beam pattern can be steered toward different directions and this is called beamforming.

Applications of the beamforming are in Radars, Radio telescopes and Communication .

Fig1: A general view of a beamforming system

Beamforming not only gives us the ability to steer but also to synthesize the beam pattern, for instance: making multi beam patterns, making nulls on some specified directions and making Sidelobe reduction by amplitude tapering.

Traditional ways of realizing beamforming systems are mostly based on discrete time delay/phase shifter blocks which are bulky, expensive and not so easy to be calibrated and maintained. These systems need a high volume of expensive cables and connectors for connecting discrete blocks together then integrated solutions for beamforming systems seem quite attractive.

Why CMOS technology:

Current CMOS technologies offer benefits like: High frequency of operation (f_t more than 100GHz), highly compatible with digital design (ability to make high speed processors by them), reliable, low cost and high volume of integration. These futures make CMOS technology attractive for military, space and communications.

In this project we are investigating different ways of beamforming by CMOS technology, to make phase shifter and time delay blocks . The research vehicle is designing an IC for DVB_S home satellite receivers which works at X band.

Advisor(s):

Prof. Bram Nauta, Prof. Frank van Vliet, Dr. Eric Klumperink, Prof. Gerard Smit, (CAES) Dr. Andre Kokkeler (CAES)

Duration: 4 years (2007-2011)

Project

CMOS Beamforming Techniques

Funding institution: STW

Strategic Research Orientation

Wireless and Sensor Systems

Links to relevant web pages:

http://icd.el.utwente.nl/persons/?id=209

http://www.ctit.utwente.nl/research/projects/national/stw/beamforce.doc/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phased_array

Pictures:

Garakoui, S.K. (Seyed Kasra)

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Home CTIT symposium 2013 About CTIT News NIRICT Research Meet the PhDs Working at CTIT Internal Information Conferences Open Calls (updated May 3, 2013) Library and Videos Knowledge Transfer Links Sitemap Search	Seyed Kasra Garakoui Designing a general purpose CMOS IC which does beamforming at different frequencies What is beamforming: In communication systems ,the duty of an antenna is to receive or transmit the electromagnetic waves from or to the sky. For beamforming (Fig 1), there are several antennas beside each other. Each antenna approximately operates individually . By applying phase shifting or time delaying effects on the signals of each antenna and then summing the results with each other, a beam pattern will be produced for the total array. By changing the phase or time delay of the signals the beam pattern can be steered toward different directions and this is called beamforming. Applications of the beamforming are in Radars, Radio telescopes and Communication . Fig1: A general view of a beamforming system Beamforming not only gives us the ability to steer but also to synthesize the beam pattern, for instance: making multi beam patterns, making nulls on some specified directions and making Sidelobe reduction by amplitude tapering. Traditional ways of realizing beamforming systems are mostly based on discrete time delay/phase shifter blocks which are bulky, expensive and not so easy to be calibrated and maintained. These systems need a high volume of expensive cables and connectors for connecting discrete blocks together then integrated solutions for beamforming systems seem quite attractive. Why CMOS technology: Current CMOS technologies offer benefits like: High frequency of operation (f_t more than 100GHz), highly compatible with digital design (ability to make high speed processors by them), reliable, low cost and high volume of integration. These futures make CMOS technology attractive for military, space and communications. In this project we are investigating different ways of beamforming by CMOS technology, to make phase shifter and time delay blocks . The research vehicle is designing an IC for DVB_S home satellite receivers which works at X band. Advisor(s): Prof. Bram Nauta, Prof. Frank van Vliet, Dr. Eric Klumperink, Prof. Gerard Smit, (CAES) Dr. Andre Kokkeler (CAES) Duration: 4 years (2007-2011) Project CMOS Beamforming Techniques Funding institution: STW Strategic Research Orientation Wireless and Sensor Systems Links to relevant web pages: http://icd.el.utwente.nl/persons/?id=209 http://www.ctit.utwente.nl/research/projects/national/stw/beamforce.doc/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phased_array Pictures: