Integrated Circuits and Systems group, IIT Madras

EE6320: RF Integrated Circuits (Jan-May 2026)

Instructor

Classrooms

  • CRC 302

Schedule

Monday: 2pm to 3:15pm Tuesday: 3:30pm to 4:45pm Thursday: 5pm to 5:50pm

Course page on moodle

Registered students can login and see the course page at https://coursesnew.iitm.ac.in/. Resources, tutorials, exam schedules, discussion forum etc. can be accessed from the moodle page.

Teaching Assistants

Login to moodle at https://coursesnew.iitm.ac.in/ to post questions and contact TAs and faculty.

Tentative Evaluation

  1. Homeworks - 10% (approximately every other week)
  2. End Semester Exam - 50%
  3. 4 Projects - 40%

Recorded lectures (videos and notes)

Lecture notes:

Lecture videos:

  1. Lecture 01 - Introduction to RF Systems lecture video
  2. Lecture 02 - RF Transceiver; S-parameters lecture video
  3. Lecture 03 - Review of MOSFET operation lecture video
  4. Lecture 04 - Introduction to Noise in Circuits lecture video
  5. Lecture 05 - Noise in tw0-port networks lecture video
  6. Lecture 06 - Some simple examples of noise calculations lecture video
  7. Lecture 07 - Noise Figure; Introduction to Low Noise Amplifiers lecture video
  8. Lecture 08 - Common-gate Low Noise Amplifier lecture video
  9. Lecture 09 - Noise Figure of Common-gate LNA lecture video
  10. Lecture 10 - Common-source Low Noise Amplifier lecture video
  11. Lecture 11 - Noise Figure of Common-source LNA lecture video
  12. Lecture 12 - CS LNA Design methodology; Introduction to Nonlinearity lecture video
  13. Lecture 13 - 1-dB Compression Point (P1dB); 3rd order Intercept Point (IIP3) lecture video
  14. Lecture 14 - LNA IIP3; IIP3 of cascaded systems lecture video
  15. Lecture 15 - Sensitivity of a receiver; Series and Parallel resonance lecture video
  16. Lecture 16 - L-match networks lecture video
  17. Lecture 17 - Pi-match networks; Tapped-capacitor match lecture video
  18. Lecture 18 - NF of lossy blocks; Introduction to mixers lecture video
  19. Lecture 19 - Active gilbert-cell mixers lecture video
  20. Lecture 20 - Gilbert-cell mixer with active load; double-balanced mixer lecture video
  21. Lecture 21 - Design considerations of Gilbert-cell mixer; Introduction to mixer noise analysis lecture video
  22. Lecture 22 - Noise folding in mixers; transconductor and switch noise lecture video
  23. Lecture 23 - Image problem in heterodyne receivers; Hartley and Weaver image-reject receivers lecture video
  24. Lecture 24 - Introduction to oscillators lecture video
  25. Lecture 25 - Cross-coupled LC oscillator lecture video
  26. Lecture 26 - Complementary cross-coupled LC oscillator; Voltage controlled oscillators lecture video
  27. Lecture 27 - Tuning in VCOs; IQ generation lecture video
  28. Lecture 28 - Quadrature VCOs; Noise in oscillators lecture video
  29. Lecture 29 - Introduction to Phase Noise in Oscillators; LTI Models lecture video
  30. Lecture 30 - LTV model of phase noise lecture video
  31. Lecture 31 - CMOS Power Amplifiers lecture video
  32. Lecture 32 - Class-A CMOS Power Amplifier lecture video
  33. Lecture 33 - Linearity of CMOS Power Amplifier lecture video
  34. Lecture 34 - CMOS inverter based PA; Noise cancelling LNA; Gain boosted CGLNA lecture video
  35. Lecture 35 - Capacitive cross coupled gain boosted CGLNA; Introduction to RF Layout lecture video
  36. Lecture 36 - Introduction Spiral inductors; Overview of Passive Mixers lecture video
  37. Lecture 37 - Receiver RF System calculations example (802.11ag) lecture video

Other Useful Material

  1. Q relation in Pi- and T- matches: pdf
  2. Noise Figure of passive lossy systems: pdf
  3. Introduction to S-parameters (Prof. Ali Niknejad's lecture notes at UC Berkeley): pdf

Projects

This course has 4 major circuit design and simulation projects. They will be posted below periodically. The project report should be submitted as a single pdf file on Moodle. You are expected to design and simulate them on your own. You can approach the teaching assistants for clarifications and help.

  1. Project 1 on LNA Design (pdf) Due at 11:59pm on Sunday 01/03/2026
  2. Project 2 on Mixer Design (pdf) Due at 11:59pm on Sunday 05/04/2026
  3. Project 3 on VCO + Divider Design (pdf) Due at 11:59pm on Sunday 26/04/2026
  4. Project 4 on PA Design (pdf) Due at 11:59pm on Tuesday 05/05/2026

Use the IBM 0.13µm CMOS model files on this page: (Model File page)

Assignments

This course has several homework assignments. They will be posted below periodically. The solution should be submitted as a single pdf file on Moodle. You are expected to work on them on your own. You can approach the teaching assistants for clarifications and help.

  1. Homework #1 on Noise Figure (pdf) Due at 11:59pm on Tuesday 24/03/2026
  2. Homework #2 on Noise Figure with feedback (pdf) Due at 11:59pm on Tuesday 07/04/2026
  3. Homework #3 on Receivers and Oscillators (pdf) Due at 11:59pm on Tuesday 28/04/2026
  4. Homework #4 on Power Amplifiers (pdf) Due at 11:59pm on Tuesday 28/04/2026

Textbook and References

  • Primary Textbook: RF Microelectronics by Behzad Razavi, 2nd Edition (2013) (Publisher: Pearson), ISBN-10: 9789332518636, ISBN-13: 9789332518636
  • Other References: The Design Of CMOS Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuits by Thomas H. Lee, 2nd Edition (2006) (Publisher: Cambridge University Press), ISBN-10: 0521613892, ISBN-13: 9780521613897

Pre-requisites