Professional Documents
Culture Documents
(You may wish to print a copy of this web page for future reference)
Question 14: In your Answer 13 you use the term "dBc/Hz". (a) What does this
mean ? (b) How do you measure this?
Answer 14: (a) This term means "Decibels below the carrier in a 1-Hz bandwidth."
It relates to phase-noise measurements, and is measured at a desired frequency
offset (called the Fourier Frequency Offset), usually anywhere from a 1-kHz offset
to a 1-MHz offset from the nominal carrier frequency. Figure 8 illustrates the
phase noise of a hybrid 422-MHz Rayleigh wave oscillator that I used for a wireless
application, before and after locking with a Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) for
frequency selection. The measured frequency stability of this particular locked
oscillator was +/- 10 Hz over a 1 second measuring period.
(b) I used a commercial frequency stability analyzer which can be run to obtain the
stability in the phase domain or in the time domain. Time domain measurements
are quoted in terms of "Allan Deviation", or "Sigma y of tau" . (Note: If you want
to learn more about noise and noise measurements, a VERY good reference book is
the USA National Bureau of Standards Monograph 140, called "TIME AND
FREQUENCY: Theory and Fundamentals," (B. E. Blair, Editor), U.S. Department
of Commerce, Issued May 1974, Library of Congress Catalog Number: 73-600299.
Also, for more information on definitions used in frequency and time
measurements, see: E. Ferre-Pikal, J. R. Vig, J. C. Camparo, L. S. Cutler, L.
Maleki, W. J. Riley, S. R. Stein, C. Thomas, F. L. Walls, J. D. White, ""Draft
revision of IEEE STD 1139-1988 standard definitions of physical quantities for
fundamental frequency and time metrology - random instabilities, " Proc. 1997
IEEE International Frequency Control Symposium, pp. 338-357, 1997) .
Question 15: What kinds of phase noise do I have to consider in SAW oscillators?
Answer 15: i) White phase noise, ii) Flicker phase noise, iii) White frequency noise,
iv) Flicker frequency noise , v) Random walk. (See Table 18.1 on page 537 of my
1998 SAW text book).
Question 16: (a) What is special about the phase noise characteristic of an injection-
locked SAW oscillator listed in Figure 7? (b) What are some wireless applications of
injection-locked SAW oscillators?
Answer 16: (a) As discussed in Chapter 18 of my 1998 SAW book, within the
maximum injection-locking bandwidth, the oscillator tracks (and amplifies) the
input signal. Most importantly, the oscillator adopts the phase noise of the input
signal source. (See Ref #63 on my web publication page, as well as R. Adler, "A
study of locking phenomena in oscillators", reprinted in Proc. IEEE, vol. 61, pp.
1380-1385, Oct. 1973. (I THINK that these injection-locking relationships should
apply to ALL types of injection-locked electronic oscillators. )
(b) Applications of injection-locked SAW oscillators include 1) FM demodulation
at UHF frequencies which offers good signal-to-noise performance, as well as
fabrication simplicity over lumped Inductance-Capacitance (LC) tuning
networks, (See Ref. #49 in my web publication page), and 2) Carrier recovery at
gigahertz frequencies in Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) modulation systems,
with demonstrated Bit-Error Rates (BER) of about 10-7 at a Carrier-to-Noise (C/N)
ratio of 14 dB. (See Ref. #87 in my web publication page).
LEAKY-SAW LADDER FILTERS FOR ANTENNA DUPLEXERS
Question 17: Some of the circuits you sketched above related to front-end circuitry
employing leaky-SAW (LSAW) low-loss ladder filters with antenna duplexers. (a)
What are the merits of such LSAW ladder filters? (b) Sketch a LSAW "building
block" component of such a ladder filter. (c) Sketch an illustrative LSAW antenna
duplexer employing such building blocks, and illustrate a typical frequency
response for a 2.45-GHz ladder filter in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)
circuit.
Answer 17: (a) Merits include capabilities for 1) low loss operation (e.g., less than
about 3 dB for Tx and Rx stages), 2) high rejection at mutual frequency bands, 3)
power handling of at least 1 W, 4) good sidelobe suppression, 5) high rejection at
the image frequency and at second and third harmonic frequencies, and 6) very
small and light package sizes.
Question 18: What are the chief components of surface acoustic wave front-end
ladder filters and antenna duplexers?
Answer 18: One-port resonators are configured in series-shunt combinations to act
as Inductance-Capacitance-Resistance (LCR) Impedance Elements (IE). For energy
storage and resonator action the individual one-port resonators can either consist
of a long IDT with significant finger reflections, or a short IDT in conjunction with
end reflection gratings as shown in Figure 9. Because their relatively deeper sub-
surface wave penetration results in a higher power-handling capability, leaky-
SAW (LSAW) resonators (e.g. using 42o Y-X LiTaO3) are normally preferred over
Rayleigh-wave ones (e.g. using 128o LiNbO3). (See Chapter 13 of my 1998 SAW
textbook for more details).
Question 26: What types of SAW filters are used in these regenerative repeater
modules, and how difficult is their design?
Answer 26: Since the SAW clock-recovery filters are required to have extremely-
high phase linearity across the passband, transversal (i.e., delay-line) types of SAW
clock filters appear to be favored over SAW resonator filters. The design of SAW
filters operating at center frequency fo= 2488.32 MHz can be especially
demanding. To date, design techniques for SAW clock-recovery filters over 2 GHz
have included 1) delay-line structures operating at the fundamental center
frequency on piezoelectric crystal substrates, 2) filters operating at the third
harmonic on piezoelectric crystal substrates, and 3) thin-film filters fabricated with
composite layers of Silicon Dioxide/Zinc Oxide/Diamond/Silicon. Figure 16 shows
the response of an illustrative SAW clock filter employing Silicon Dioxide/Zinc
Oxide/Diamond/Silicon, and operating at 2.488 GHz.
(See Chapter 19 of my 1998 SAW textbook).
Question 30: I really do not understand the difference between convolution and
autocorrelation. Can you demonstrate this to me in a simple, non-mathematical
way?
Answer 30: Convolution and autocorrelation relate to the way the interaction
between two signals is processed as a function of time. Maybe Figure 17 will help to
demonstrate this. Here, an autocorrelation peak occurs at a time when the animals
are identically overlapping one another.
Question 31: Now give me a block-diagram sketch of a very basic real-time SAW
convolver.
Answer 31: Figure 18 shows a basic real-time SAW convolver on a single-crystal
piezoelectric substrate. The input message-coded IF signal at frequency fis applied
at Port 1. A time-reversed replica of the message-coding sequence , also at
frequency f, is applied to Port 2. Their related SAW signals propagate under the
metal film, where autocorrelation takes place. The metal film must be long enough
to contain an entire code bit. The autocorrelated output at frequency 2f is obtained
at Port 3.
Question 32: Why is the Port 3 output signal at frequency 2f, while the input (Port
1) and reference (Port 2) signals are only at frequency f?
Answer 32: The situation here is exactly the same as for an ordinary three-terminal
analog mixer component. Since the input and reference signals have to MIX, the
convolver has to operate non linearly! To do this, at least one of the input signals
(normally at Port 2 ) has to be large enough to drive the sub-surface SAW region
into nonlinearity. Note that a Rayleigh-wave crystal cut is therefore preferred,
instead of a Leaky-SAW (LSAW) one. The reason for this is that the sub-surface
penetration of a Rayleigh wave is much less than a LSAW one. This means that
for the same input powers, the power DENSITY of the Rayleigh wave will be higher,
and make it easier to get in to nonlinear operation.
Question 33: In Figure 18 you gave an outline of a very basic real-time SAW
convolver. Sketch an outline of a more sophisticated one, and mention some of its
relative advantages.
Answer 33: OK! Figure 19 shows the basics of a dual-track real-time IF SAW
convolver. Some such convolvers have been reported with correlation interaction
times of up to 22 microsecond. The design trick here is to arrange the polarities of
the interdigital transducers (IDTs) at Port 1 input so that they excited in-phase
SAWs in both tracks. However, the polarities of the IDTs at reference Port 2 are
arranged to excite 180oout-of-phase SAWs between the two tracks. The
autocorrelated signals in Track 1 and Track 2 can be summed by a differential
summer. This is not the end of the story, however! Any spurious undesirable SAW
reflections within Track 1 and Track 2 will be in-phase, and will therefore cancel out
in the differential summer. Typical reported processing bandwidths B for this
structure are B = 50 MHz at 350-MHz center frequency, with Tme-Bandwidth (TB)
products in the order of TB = 150.
Question 34: (a) Define the convolution efficiency η c of a real-time SAW
convolver. (b) What are some typical values of convolution efficiency for real-time
SAW convolvers?
Answer 34: (a) This is normally defined as η c = 10.log10[(Pout)/(Ps.Pr)]. It is
usually expressed in (dBm)-1. In this evaluation the output power Pout at Port 3 is
normally measured with signal and reference powers Psand Pr both set at 0 dBm
(i.e. 1 mW).
(b) Representative values of convolution efficiency vary from about -70 dBm for a
dual-track basic convolver on a piezoelectric crystal substrate to about -46 dBm for
a layered structure involving ZnO/SiO2/Si. (See Chapter 17 in my 1998 SAW
textbook).
Question 35: A SAW convolver has a rated convolution efficiency η c= -46 dBm. If
the signal input power Ps is 10 dBm (10 mW) and the reference power Pr is 20 dBm
(100 mW), what is the correlated output power Pout?
Answer 35: Expressed in dBm units we have Pout = η c+ Ps + Pr . Before going
any further, however, we must remember that the IDTs at Port 1 and Port 2 are
bidirectional. This means that each IDT will lose 3 dB from the autocorrelation
process. As a result the output power at Port 3 will be Pout = (-46) + (10 - 3) + (20 -
3) = -22 dBm = 6.3 microwatt.
Question 36: If the output noise floor level in the previous SAW convolver is -75
dBm, determine the output Signal- to-Noise (S/N) ratio.
Answer 36: This gives the output signal/thermal noise ratio (at output frequency 2f)
as S/N = (-22) - (-75) = 53 dB, which also corresponds to the dynamic range in this
convolver example.
Question 38: What are some of the frequency bands that modems with these IF
SAW convolvers have operated in ?
Answer 38: These include 1) the 900-MHz spread spectrum band using the DS/CSK
mode, 2) Full-duplex operation in the 2-GHz spread-spectrum band, and 3) the
licence-free spread-spectrum band in Japan below 322 MHz. (See Chapter 17 in my
1998 SAW textbook).
Question 41: When I check out my groceries at the supermarket, the optical scanner
at the checkout counter can only scan one item at a time. In the case of SAW RFIDs
using electromagnetic wave interrogation, can the SAW inspection/detection circuit
only handle one RFID at a time? What happens if there are several RFID tags close
together, with the scope of the wireless detector circuit?
Answer 41: Another tricky question! When interrogated by a single wireless
transmitter/receiver, multiple reflection signals from RFID tags could of course
occur when several of these are close together ( such as placed on a number of
different jars of jam on a shelf), within the radiation pattern of the single
interrogating antenna. This would result in a multiplicity of received codes at the
interrogator in the same time interval! To overcome this, one reported technique
uses a phase modulation of selected finger pairs on each SAW RFID device, which
places a unique identifier on the signal returned to the wireless interrogator circuit.
(See, for example, P. J. Edmonson and C. K. Campbell, United States Patent No; US
6,827,281 B2, Dec. 7, 2004, "Encoded SAW RFID tags and Sensors for Multi-User
Detection Using IDT Finger Phase Modulation).
Question 42: In your answer to Question 40 you mention the terms "EPC-64" and
"EPC-96". What do you mean by these ?
Answer 42: (a) "EPC" stands for "Electronic Product Code" and represents a
numbering scheme for the unique identification of objects. EPC may be considered
as a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) evolution of the Universal Product
Codes (UPC) currently used as optical-scanning barcodes in supermarkets and
elsewhere. There are several proposed standards of EPC, relating to the amount of
data stored in the interrogating transponder. Current EPC standards include EPC-
64 employing 64 bits of information data and EPC-96 employing 96 bits of
information data.
Question 43: Give an example of the coding distribution for an EPC-96 system.
Answer 43: Consider that we can divide the 96-bit code into four Segments from left
to right.
Segment 1 is the Header and is 8 bits in length (0 to 7 bits), This identifies the
EPC version in use.
Segment 2 is the EPC Manager, which employs 28 bits of data (8 to 35 bits). This is
used to identify the particular Manufacturer of the product in question. The binary
number 228 gives us 228 = > 268 million identifiable Manufacturers !
Segment 3 is the Product Object Class and is 24 bits in length (36 to 59 bits) . This
gives us 224= > 16 million products to identify.
Segment 4 is the Serial Numberfor a given product, and is 36 bits in length (60 to 95
bits). This gives us 236 = > 68 billion possible serial numbers!
Question 44: But before I figure out how the above EPC data be met by a SAW
RFID tag design, first of all sketch a simple binary-coded SAW wireless RFID label
tag, and explain its operation.
Answer 44:I have sketched a simple illustrative SAW wireless tag in Figure 21,
employing IDT reflector pairs configured, for example, as a 110011011 binary
code, as governed by the individual IDT relative "polarities". The antenna is
shown as a simple one-turn loop antenna. Note that input/output IDTs have a
common bus bar. The RF pulse transmitter in Figure 20 sends an interrogation
pulse to this SAW tag. After a short time delay the SAW tag re-radiates an RF
signal as a 110011011-coded RF waveform. This is subsequently detected by the
time-gated receiver and phase-detector circuit of Figure 20. Note that an
operational requirement for this particular circuit is that the free-propagation
distance between transmitter and SAW tag must be greater than the IDT code
length.
Question 45: But am I restricted to the use of IDT sections as reflectors in Figure 21
above ?.
Answer 45:No. It is normally much easier if I use thin metal film reflectors strips -
each with modest SAW reflectivity capability - as shown in Figure 21a.
Question 46: How do these reflector strips work in the one-port device of Figure 21a
?
Answer 46:The IDT to the left is directly connected to the tag's antenna which
receives an interrogation RF signal. The RF signal is converted to a SAW which is
reflected sequentially from the various reflector strips and returned to the antenna.
These reflector strips can be placed on the piezoelectric crystal substrate (typically
128o LiNbO3) to encode the RFID tag using amplitude weighting, phase weighting or
other variables.
Question 47: (a) Give me an example of the level of bit encoding I can attain with
the RFID tag configuration of Figure 21a. Assume that I only have a maximum of
16 reflectors.
(b) Highlight, (without giving mathematical details), how you could improve the
above simple 16-bit design to meet EPC tag specifications. Also give a reference to
such a design
Answer 47:(a) First of all, consider the simplest design where the 16 reflectors are
separated at fixed intervals. Further consider that the placement of each individual
reflector strip corresponds to a binary "1", while the absence of a reflector strip
corresponds top a binary "0". This will give us a capability of only 216= 65, 000
unique tags, which would not be of any use for the EPC-64 or EPC-96 tag numbers
mentioned above.
(b) However, recent SAW design techniques involving a different type of data
encoding - using a higher number of data bits for each signal pulse, together with
phase encoding of reflector strip placements and a higher data density -- have
shown that it is possible to attain 264 = 1.8 x 1019unique RFID tag numbers using the
same size SAW device as for the simple 16-bit one considered above.
For reference to the SAW design of part (b) see C. S. Hartmann, "A global SAW ID
tag with large data capacity, Proceedings of 2002 IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium,
vol. 1, pp. 65-69, 2002.
Question 49:What are the merits of FBAR filters compared SAW filters at these
frequencies - especially in the 5-GHz range?
Answer 49: SAW filter dimensions decrease with increasing frequency. As I noted
in Answer 5, a packaged 1.880-GHz SAW Tx-filter for USA Personal
Communications Services (PCS), (see Figure 1.4 in my SAW book), may only have
an area in the order of 3 mm x 3 mm. And as we get up into the 5-GHz range, (and
unless we may choose to operate in a harmonic mode), SAW fabrication IDT line
width dimensional limitations and tolerances become too severe for all but the most
sophisticated fabrication systems. But while SAW device fabrication resolution is
concerned with width parameters , the FBAR designs are dictated by depth
parameters thereby offering the potential for less stringent fabrication constraints.
Question 51: Why are we now talking about bulk acoustic wave (BAW) filters and
resonators, when we have been so far discussing SAW filters and resonators?
Answer 51: Their are many circuit equivalencies in the modelling of SAW and
BAW resonator and filter circuits. For example, one equivalent circuit for SAW
filter modeling employs the Mason Equivalent Circuit that was first applied to
BAW filters and resonators.
(For more on the Mason Equivalent Circuit, see Chapter 4 of my 1998 SAW book
as well as, for example, J. F. Rosenbaum,Bulk Acoustic Wave Theory and Devices,
Artech House, Boston, 1988)
Question 52: a) Sketch the basic configuration of one type of FBAR resonator, and
highlight its operating principles. b) Give some typical response and size
parameters for GHz frequency FBAR ladder filter front-end duplexers employing
series-shunt FBAR resonators.
Answer 52: Figure 22 shows the basics of one type of FBAR resonator. The
resonator itself is composed of a piezoelectric layer contained between input/output
connectors, which is excited to implement mechanical resonance. It is deposited on
top of a highly resistive wafer substrate, such as silicon (Si). For optimum
performance the design aim is to deposit an epitaxial (i.e., single crystal)
piezoelectric layer, with a particular crystal axis orientation for a given
piezoelectric. This can be tricky ! Analogous to a microwave resonator, the
fundamental resonance frequency is that which results when the piezoelectric film
thickness is 1/2 acoustic wavelength. In order to minimize mechanical damping, the
resonator requires a large acoustic mismatch with outer boundaries. This is
achieved in the design of Fig. 22 by cutting away the bottom support base, using
micro machining or plasma etching.
b) A reported 5-GHz FBAR of this type on AlN had an unloaded series-
resonanceQs= 913 at 5.173 GHz, with a k2 x Qs product of 58. Using such an FBAR in
a 5-GHz front-end ladder filter, (in the same way as for the SAW ladder filter of
Fig. 10 above), a fractional bandwidth of 5.0% was obtained, with a 2-dB
bandwidth of 210 MHz and a 3-dB bandwidth of 260 MHz, suitable for 5-GHz
WLAN applications. It was indicated that this particular FBAR response
outperformed an equivalent SAW ladder filter in both the passband and out-of-
band responses. The filter package size in this design was 2.5 x 2.0 x 0.9 mm.
(For further details of this particular 5-GHz FBAR resonator and filter see, T.
Nishihara, T. Yokoyama, T. Miyashita, Y. Satoh, "High performance and miniature
thin film bulk acoustic wave filters for 5 GHz," Proceedings of 2002 IEEE
Ultrasonics Symposium, (to be published).
Question 53:Is the FBAR filter structure of Fig. 22 the only design under study at
this time?
Answer 53: No. Instead of having a "free-space" piezoelectric membrane as in Fig.
22, another type of FBAR under development uses a Solidly Mounted Structure
(SMR), where the bottom resonator section is not "free", but is deposited on layered
films which are configured to act as a reflecting "mirror". This layered film
structure is known as a Bragg reflector. (For more on SMR filters, see, for example,
R. Lanz, M-A Dubois, P. Muralt, "Solidly mounted BAW filters for the 6 to 8 GHz
range based on AlN thin films," Proceedings of 2001 IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium,
vol. 1, pp. 843-846, 2001).
Question 54:Sketch an LCR equivalent circuit, and illustrative frequency response
for an FBAR resonator.
Answer 54: As indicated in Fig. 23(a), the same LCR equivalent circuit
representations can be used both for both FBAR and one-port SAW resonators.(For
more on one-port and two-port SAW resonators see Chapter 11 of my 1998 SAW
book). Resonator equivalent parametersCs,Ls, and Rs establish the series resonance
with minimumimpedance at notch frequency fs in Fig. 23(b). But the resonator is
also just a capacitor , with parallel capacitance Cp and tan(delta) dissipation loss
resistanceRp. At frequencies above fs, therefore,Cp and Rpprovide a parallel
resonance with Rs, Ls, resulting in an impedance maximum at frequency fp.
Rleadrepresents contact and lead resistance here. Depending on the design some
connection inductanceLlead may also be present.
SAW COMB FILTERS
Question 55: Is a SAW filter constrained to having just a single passband response,
such as in the example of Figure 11?
Answer 55: No. This is where the analog/digital hybrid capability of the SAW filter
can be used, as mentioned in Answer 2 ! For example, we can apply digital-filter
concepts to the design of a SAW filter. One such sample design illustrated here
employed the Remez Exchange Algorithm used in linear phasedigital filter design.
This was derived in the early 1970s as a tool for designing finite impulse response
(FIR) linear phase digital filters. (See, for example, J. H. McClellan, T. W. Parks
and L. R. Rabiner, "A computer program for designing optimum linear phase
digital filters," IEEE Transactions Audio and Electroacoustics, vol. AU-21, No. 6, pp.
506-526, December 1973. Essentially, given a desired frequency response, it
supplies a finite set of impulse response coefficients for the digital filter synthesis,
thus yielding an optimum approximation to the desired linear phase response. Its
application to SAW filters is covered in some detail in Chapter 8 of my earlier 1989
SAW book listed below. Figure 24 illustrates a prototype singleSAW filter,
designed in this way to perform as a 10-band comb filter. Other Remez examples
are given in my 1989 SAW book.
SAW WIRELESS BIOSENSORS FOR VAPOR DETECTION AND
IDENTIFICATION
Question 56: (a) Can SAW resonators be used as biosensors? (b) If so, give two
examples.
Answer 56: (a) Yes.
(b) 1. Uncoated SAW resonators have been used in fast gas chromatography for
electronic nose simulation of olfactory responses. This is used to obtain a high
resolution visual image of specific vapour fragrances containing a variety of
chemicals. (See, for example, E. J. Staples, "Electronic nose simulation of olfactory
response containing 500 orthogonal sensors in 10 seconds" Proc. 1990 IEEE
Ultrasonics Symposium.)
2. Bio-coated SAW resonators have been used for on-the-spot vapour phase
detection of plastic explosives containing nitro groups such as TNT, RDX and
others, using a SAW resonator immunosensor array. Detection sensitivity is
dependent on the biolayer deposited on the surface of the SAW resonator. ( See, for
example, S-H Lee, D. D. Stubbs, W. D. Hunt, and P. J. Edmonson, "Vapor phase
detection of plastic explosives using a SAW resonator immunosensor array" Proc.
IEEE Sensors Conference, Irvine, California, 2005).
Question 57: Sketch a basicuncoated two-port SAW resonator, and highlight its
important parameters for the sensor used considered here.
Answer 57: Figure 25 depicts the basics of a two-port SAW resonator. Reflection
gratings "bounce" back SAW that would otherwise "escape" from the IDTs.
Reflection gratings can be fabricated using open or shorted metal strips. Shorted
gratings, such as shown in Figure 25, can have better reflection qualities. SAW
resonators are generally designed to have low insertion losses in the range 1 to 3 dB,
and high-Q values (greater than 1000). Where Q = fo/∆ f at resonance frequency
fo, and ∆ f is usually measured at the 3-dB points in Figure 26. For temperature
stability they are fabricated on temperature-stable substrates such as ST-cut
quartz. The resonance is critically dependent on the spacing between the IDTs and
the spacing between the reflections gratings and adjacent IDTs. The higher the Q,
the higher will be the resolution of the oscillator spectral response. Figure 26 shows
a typical frequency response, for a particular spacing between gratings and IDTs.
(See Chapter 11 of my 1998 SAW book).
Question 58: Sketch, and discuss, the basics of biocoated two-port SAW resonator
oscillator circuit, such as reported for plastic explosive detection as in your Answer
57, and highlight its important parameters.
Answer 58: Figure 27 depicts the basics of one biocoating configuration of a two-
port SAW resonator oscillator for vapor detection and identification. The biolayer
comprises an antibody coating to detect the presence of target molecules from the
vapor of the small molecules from the gas phase . This causes an immobilization of
the antibody coating of the target molecules structure, and results in a baseline shift
of the oscillator frequency. The oscillator is transmitted to a test site for analysis. A
special analyses can subsequently be applied to identify the vapor in question. A
bank of such resonator oscillators with different identifying biolayer antibody
coatings (e.g., anti-TNT or anti-RDX antibodies) can be employed for identification
of more than one vapor. The normal linear relationship between frequency shift and
mass loading of the resonator surface has been extended to cater for the more
complex case of such antibody layer perturbations. (See, for example, W. D. Hunt,
D. D. Stubbs and S-H Lee, "Time-dependent signature of acoustic wave biosensors,"
Proc. IEEE, vol. 91, pp. 890-901, 2003)
Question 60:
(a) How can we in situ open or short load across a split-electrode IDT, in order to
control its reflectivity?
(a) How many strips are typically used in these?
(b) Mention a wireless communication example of the above technique
Answer 60
(a) A fluidic channel can be built into the surface structure of a split electrode IDT,
to inject a conductive fluid across a split-electrode pair, as sketched in Figure 28,
and thereby short out the IDT in question.
(b) Individual split-electrode IDT in an array of these, as outlines in Figure 28, can
then be switched on or off, so that the output data from such an array resembles a
Pulse Position Modulation (PPM) type of data transfer. (See, P. J. Edmonson and C.
K. Campbell, US Patent No: US 6,967,428 B2, Nov. 22, 2005, "Selectable reflector
arrays for SAW sensors and identification devices')
Question 61:
Sketch a basic SAW linear FM chirp filter and briefly describe its construction and
operating principles.
Answer 61:
(a) Figure 29 illustrates the construction of a very basic SAW linear fM chirp filter.
Here the finger widths and spacings of the IDT electrodes are fabricated so that,
when impulsed, the detected signal at the (wideband) output IDT varies linearly
with frequency. This will be in the form of a frequency up-chirp or frequency down-
chirp, depending on placement of the output IDT. (Note that the phase of the
output signal will have a linear term in time t, and a quadratic term in t2.) The
signal processing gain corresponds to the time-bandwidth (TB) product, where T =
chirp filter dispersion time (normally quoted in microseconds), and B = chirp
bandwidth (normally expressed in MHz), The linear FM chirp slope µ is given
as µ = B/T (in MHz/ µ σ ε χ ). Typical TB products for linear SAW linear FM
chirp filters are TB = 10,000, while TB = 1 for a SAW filter with uniform finger
spacing).
(See Chapter 8 of my 1998 SAW book for more on various types of SAW chirp
filters),
Question 62:
(a) What do we mean by the term Fourier Transform Pair as applied to signal
processing, and especially to SAW applications? Express in general terms, without
equations.
(b) What we mean by the term Convolution as applied to signal processing?
Answer 62:
(a) The impulse response h(t) of any system is related uniquely to its frequency
response H(f) - and vice versa - by a Fourier Transform Pair. As one application to
basic SAW filter design, the IDT finger pattern is a sampled version of the impulse
response h(t) of the desired frequency response H(f), where h(t) represents the
Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform
(b) The time-domain convolution of signal functions f1(t) and f2(t) corresponds to
the multiplication of their respective frequency response functions H1(f) and H2(f).
Convolution corresponds to a reversal of one of the time responses, together with a
relative time displacement of one of the responses, so that the two signals are
mathematically manipulated as moving towards one anther, and overlapping, as in
Figure 17.
Question 63:
(a) Name three types of SAW real-time processors for mobile/wireless applications
utilizing SAW linear chirp filters and Fourier Transform techniques.
(b) Where can I find more information on these Fourier Transform Processors?
Answer 63:
(1) Single-stage real-time Fourier-Transform Processor as a compressive receiver
for spectrum analysis of signals.
(2) Two-stage real-time Fourier-Transform Processor for Cepstrum Analysis.
(3) Two-stage Fourier-Transform Processor for real-time on-line filtering.
(b) See for example, M. A. Jack, P. M. Grant, and J. H. Collins, "The theory, design
and applications of surface acoustic wave Fourier-transform processors," Proc.
IEEE, vol. 68, pp. 229-247, 1980. Also see Chapter 16 of my 1989 book: Surface
Acoustic Wave Devices and Their Signal Processing Applications.
Question 64:
(a) Sketch the basic circuitry for the single-stage real-time SAW Fourier Processor
mentioned in your Answer 63, and highlight its principles of operation. Exclude
circuit components such as compensation of inherent delays etc.
(b) Give some typical operational parameters for such s single-stage Fourier
Transform Processors.
Answer 64:
(a) A very basic circuit for this Processor is shown in Figure 30, which employs two,
or three, linear FM chirp filters with the same chirp slopeµ . This is based on the
mathematical trick that the Fourier Transform of the product of signal s(t) and the
impulse response time h(t) for the linear FM chirp filter can be expanded
mathematically into three separate terms involving a pre-multiplication,
convolution , and post-multiplication. The corresponding circuit is as shown in
Figure 30. Note that for convolution to be achieved the convolver chirp slope must
be the opposite of that for the pre-multiplier The optional output chirp filter serves
to remove a residual quadratic phase term if both the magnitude and phase of the
output are required for network analysis.(
(b) These can have 100% duty cycle, with spectral resolutions, with analytic
bandwidths up to 1 GHz. Spectral resolutions can vary from the kHz to the MHz
range. IF frequencies can be in the GHz range with processing times in the 25 to 60
microsecond range. This can be much less than for digital Fourier Transform
Processors of the same price.
Question 65:
(a) What is Cepstrum signal processing used for ?
(b) State very briefly how Cepstrum signal processing can be achieved using a two-
stage real-time Fourier Transform Processor mentioned in Answer 62.
(c) Give a classic reference paper dealing with Cepstrum analysis
Answer 65:
(a) Cepstrum signal processing is a method for analyzing the power spectrum of a
signal which contains a periodic echo. It is based around the observation that the
logarithm of the power spectrum of a signal with a small echo component has an
added periodic component due to that echo. Thus, the echo component should be
separable from the signal if a second Fourier transform is applied to the logarithmof
the power spectrum, (i.e., log(A.B) = log (A) + log(B) ).This gives the Cepstrum
response output in a pseudo-time domain, with the dimensions of seconds.
(b) The Cepstrum processor utilizes two cascaded processors of Figure 30, with a
logarithmic amplifier and detector located between the output of the first processor
and the input of the second one. In this way high-speed real-time processing can
determine pulse durations and repetition rates from about 50 nanoseconds to 50
microseconds, as well as the bit rates of binary codes.
(c) A classic Cepstrum paper - with a most unusual title - is: B. P. Bogert, M. J. R.
Healey and J. W. Tukey, The quefrency analysis of time series for echoes:
Cepstrum, pseudo-autocovariance, cross-cepstrum and saphe cracking, " in M,
Rosenblatt (ed), Proc. Symposium on Time Series Analysis, Wiley: New York, pp.
209-243, 1963.
Question 66:
How do we achieve real-time on-line filtering, using a two-stage real time Fourier
processor as mentioned in Answer 62?
Question 66:
Instead of using a logarithmic amplifier and detector between the first a nd second
processors as in Answer 64, we use a third mixer, gated by a real-time filter function
H(2π µ t). This achieves amplitude-clipping or time-gating of the signal output
from the first Fourier processor, and so allows for on-line adaptive-filtering or
fixed-filtering of spread spectrum signals for suppression of narrow-band
interference. (See Chapter 16 of my 1989 SAW book)
***** Note that GSM is often referred to as the world's firstdigital wireless
technology. However, I personally consider it to be the world's second digital
wireless technology - the first digital one being Morse Code wireless transmission,
that has been around for many, many years! ******
(d) Multi-mode mobile/wireless transceivers are those that can operate in more than
one mode of operation. These modes include AMPS, GSM, TDMA. (Again, see the
Glossary definitions section on pages 613-618 of ny 1998 SAW book.)
(e) 3G refers to Third-Generation mobile/wireless systems operating in the 2100-
MHz band.
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My email address is colin.kydd.campbell@sympatico.ca
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