Tonio Biondi - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Tonio Biondi

Research paper thumbnail of Design and Modeling of Silicon Integrated Rf Devices

Research paper thumbnail of Modelling The Bipolar Transistor Using Multibias S Parameters Sets

Microelectronics and Microsystems, 2000

Research paper thumbnail of Wideband lumped scalable modeling of monolithic stacked transformers on silicon

Bipolar/BiCMOS Circuits and Technology, 2004. Proceedings of the 2004 Meeting

A lumped model for monolithic stacked transformers on silicon is presented. It employs a novel to... more A lumped model for monolithic stacked transformers on silicon is presented. It employs a novel topology that combines tbe simplicity of lumped models aud the accuracy of distributed networks. Model parameters are calculated by means of closed-form expressions using geometrical and technological data. The accuracy of the proposed model is demonstrated by comparing simulations with on-wafer experimental measurements of several

Research paper thumbnail of Degradation of the DC current capability in long-emitter bipolar transistors

9th International Conference on Electronics, Circuits and Systems

The degradation of current capability in high speed bipolar transistors caused by the voltage dro... more The degradation of current capability in high speed bipolar transistors caused by the voltage drop across the distributed resistance of the emitter finger has been studied. Experimental results show that in very-long emitter transistors this phenomenon becomes tangible even at current levels well below the onset of high injection. An analytical model under the assumption of medium current levels has

Research paper thumbnail of Large-signal characterization and modeling of a silicon bipolar technology for high-efficiency power applications up to C-band

Southwest Symposium on Mixed-Signal Design, 2003.

ABSTRACT

Research paper thumbnail of A silicon bipolar technology for high-efficiency power applications up to C-band

IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFIC) Symposium, 2003

... Catania site, Stradale Primosole 50, 95 12 1 Catania, Italia E-mail: tbiondi@diees.unict.it, ... more ... Catania site, Stradale Primosole 50, 95 12 1 Catania, Italia E-mail: tbiondi@diees.unict.it, fcarrara@ieee.org, antonino.scuderi@st.com ... Harmonic load impedances were tuned for maximum PAE (dual-Class-F operation [5]). The same quiescent current density was set for each of ...

Research paper thumbnail of A lumped scalable physics-based model for silicon spiral inductors

The 10th IEEE International Symposium on Electron Devices for Microwave and Optoelectronic Applications

This paper presents a high accuracy scalable physics-based model for planar spiral inductors, whi... more This paper presents a high accuracy scalable physics-based model for planar spiral inductors, which takes into account both metal and substrate loss phenomena. The model was applied to inductors on an n+-doped radial-patterned ground shield, which was properly optimized by means of 3D EM simulations. After validating a simulation set-up in a 3D EM commercial tool by comparison with on-wafer

Research paper thumbnail of Characterization and modeling of sub-nH integrated inductances

Proceedings of the 21st IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference (IEEE Cat. No.04CH37510)

... Tonio Biondi, Angelo Scuderi, Egidio Ragonese and Giuseppe Palmisano Universita di Catania, F... more ... Tonio Biondi, Angelo Scuderi, Egidio Ragonese and Giuseppe Palmisano Universita di Catania, Facolta di Ingegneria, Dipartimento di lngegneria ... coupling with the underlying substrate limits the self-resonance frequency and the quality factor, whose maximum value appears ...

Research paper thumbnail of The transformer characteristic resistance and its application to the design of rf circuits

Research in Microelectronics and Electronics, 2005 PhD

This paper presents a novel figure of merit for the rating of integrated transformers. The propos... more This paper presents a novel figure of merit for the rating of integrated transformers. The proposed parameter provides a more reliable performance characterization compared to previously reported ones (i.e., insertion loss and maximum available gain), since it is inherently related to the maximization of the available output power in tuned-load RF circuits. As application of the new figure of merit, a highly linear transformer-based up-converter for 5-GHz wireless LANs is presented.

Research paper thumbnail of Lumped Modeling of Differentially Driven Symmetric Inductors for RF IC Design

2006 Bipolar/BiCMOS Circuits and Technology Meeting, 2006

Research paper thumbnail of Method for modeling large-area transistor devices, and computer program product therefor

A method models the electrical characteristics of wide-channel transistors, such as power transis... more A method models the electrical characteristics of wide-channel transistors, such as power transistors, by generating a lumped-element distributed circuit model. More specifically, the active area of the transistor is organized in elementary transistor cells, which are substituted by active lumped elements. Similarly the passive area of the transistor is organized in elementary strip-lines, which are substituted by passive lumped elements. Preferably, the parameters of the lumped elements are extracted automatically from layout information, such as path dimensions, and technological data, such as sheet resistance of the metal layers, sheet resistance of the polysilicon layers and oxide thickness

Research paper thumbnail of Modeling bipolar transistors using multibias S parameter sets

Proceedings RAWCON 2001. 2001 IEEE Radio and Wireless Conference (Cat.No.01EX514), 2001

This paper presents a technique for accurate small-signal modeling of microwave bipolar transisto... more This paper presents a technique for accurate small-signal modeling of microwave bipolar transistors. Model parameters are extracted using measured S parameters in some bias points within the forward active region and then calculated in every point of that region by using a first order interpolation algorithm. The resulting multibias model shows excellent agreement with the measured data over the entire operating region. Moreover, accurate agreement is also achieved with the measured minimum noise figure even though the parameter extraction technique does not make use of noise measurements. Although model parameters are only extracted on measured data at 1 and 5 GHz, scattering parameters are accurately predicted up to 50 GHz, i.e. at a frequency exceeding the transistor FT

Research paper thumbnail of Effect of layout parasitics on the current distribution of power MOSFETs operated at high switching frequency

Journal of Computational Electronics, 2006

The internal electrical characteristics of an 800-V 9-A 0.7-silicon power MOSFET are investigated... more The internal electrical characteristics of an 800-V 9-A 0.7-silicon power MOSFET are investigated using a distributed modelling approach. A cad tool has been developed to automatically extract layout parasitics and create an equivalent spice-like netlist of the device under investigation. The distributed model is employed to investigate the performance of the device during a turn-off switching at different values of the gate fall time. Simulations show that reducing the gate fall time contributes to increase the internal current imbalance leading to current density overshoots, referred to as hot spots. Moreover, faster switching operation forces current density to crowd towards the slowest parts of the device which in turn degrades the overall device ruggedness. These results demonstrate that the proposed modelling approach allows accurate simulation of the internal current distribution identifying the regions where hot spots are more likely to occur.

Research paper thumbnail of Experimental comparison of substrate structures for inductors and transformers

MELECON - IEEE Mediterranean Electrotechnical Conference, 2004

An experimental comparison of the substrate structures for silicon inductive devices is proposed.... more An experimental comparison of the substrate structures for silicon inductive devices is proposed. On-wafer measurements for both inductors and stacked transformers revealed that better performance is achieved by exploiting a n+-doped buried layer as a patterned ground shield. The proposed solution increases inductor quality factor and allows a wide operative bandwidth for transformers to be achieved, as well. Moreover, owing

Research paper thumbnail of Integrated Inductors and Transformers

Integrated Inductors and Transformers, 2010

Research paper thumbnail of Analysis and modeling of thick-metal spiral inductors on silicon

2005 European Microwave Conference, 2005

ABSTRACT In this paper, the analysis and modeling of thick-metal spiral inductors are addressed. ... more ABSTRACT In this paper, the analysis and modeling of thick-metal spiral inductors are addressed. The actual improvements of metal thickening in terms of quality factor are evaluated and related to skin and proximity effects. The inductance decrease due to metal thickening is also investigated and modeled using a modified current-sheet expression. The proposed formula achieves higher accuracy compared to the original one revealing errors below 5% even for thickness-to-width ratio up to 2.5.

Research paper thumbnail of A scalable model for silicon spiral inductors

IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest, 2003

A simple model for monolithic spiral inductors on silicon substrates is presented. Each lumped el... more A simple model for monolithic spiral inductors on silicon substrates is presented. Each lumped element of the model is related to the layout geometry by analytical equations. Moreover, a novel equation for series resistance is also proposed. The model was validated by comparisons with on-wafer measurements over a wide range of geometrical layout parameters.

Research paper thumbnail of A 18-GHz Silicon Bipolar VCO with Transformer-Based Resonator

IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFIC) Symposium, 2006

A silicon bipolar voltage-controlled oscillator for 17-GHz ISM band is presented. The VCO is comp... more A silicon bipolar voltage-controlled oscillator for 17-GHz ISM band is presented. The VCO is composed of a core oscillating at 9 GHz followed by a frequency doubler. It adopts a transformer-based topology to obtain both wide tuning range and low noise performance. The VCO exhibits a tuning range of 4.1 GHz from 16.4 to 20.5 GHz and a phase noise

Research paper thumbnail of A comparative analysis of monolithic spiral inductors in silicon bipolar technology

Southwest Symposium on Mixed-Signal Design, 2003.

... ' Universitl di Catamia, Facoltl di Ingegneria, DIEES V.le A. Doria 6, Catania, 95125, I... more ... ' Universitl di Catamia, Facoltl di Ingegneria, DIEES V.le A. Doria 6, Catania, 95125, Italia eragone@dees.unict.it , tbiondi@dees.unict.it , gpalmisano@dees.unict.it S'IMicroelectronics Stradale Primosole 50, Catania, 95121, Italia peppe.Iongo@st.com 2 ABSTRACT ...

Research paper thumbnail of Inductance calculation of thick-metal inductors

Research in Microelectronics and Electronics, 2005 PhD, 2005

ABSTRACT In this paper, the analysis and modeling of thick-metal spiral inductors are addressed. ... more ABSTRACT In this paper, the analysis and modeling of thick-metal spiral inductors are addressed. The accuracy of a 2.5 D electromagnetic simulator is first validated by comparison with on-wafer experimental measurements. Simulation results are then employed to investigate the effect of metal thickening on inductor performance. The inductance decrease due to metal thickening is modeled by using a modified current-sheet expression. The proposed formula achieves higher accuracy compared to the original one revealing errors below 5% even for thickness-to-width ratio up to 2.5.

Research paper thumbnail of Design and Modeling of Silicon Integrated Rf Devices

Research paper thumbnail of Modelling The Bipolar Transistor Using Multibias S Parameters Sets

Microelectronics and Microsystems, 2000

Research paper thumbnail of Wideband lumped scalable modeling of monolithic stacked transformers on silicon

Bipolar/BiCMOS Circuits and Technology, 2004. Proceedings of the 2004 Meeting

A lumped model for monolithic stacked transformers on silicon is presented. It employs a novel to... more A lumped model for monolithic stacked transformers on silicon is presented. It employs a novel topology that combines tbe simplicity of lumped models aud the accuracy of distributed networks. Model parameters are calculated by means of closed-form expressions using geometrical and technological data. The accuracy of the proposed model is demonstrated by comparing simulations with on-wafer experimental measurements of several

Research paper thumbnail of Degradation of the DC current capability in long-emitter bipolar transistors

9th International Conference on Electronics, Circuits and Systems

The degradation of current capability in high speed bipolar transistors caused by the voltage dro... more The degradation of current capability in high speed bipolar transistors caused by the voltage drop across the distributed resistance of the emitter finger has been studied. Experimental results show that in very-long emitter transistors this phenomenon becomes tangible even at current levels well below the onset of high injection. An analytical model under the assumption of medium current levels has

Research paper thumbnail of Large-signal characterization and modeling of a silicon bipolar technology for high-efficiency power applications up to C-band

Southwest Symposium on Mixed-Signal Design, 2003.

ABSTRACT

Research paper thumbnail of A silicon bipolar technology for high-efficiency power applications up to C-band

IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFIC) Symposium, 2003

... Catania site, Stradale Primosole 50, 95 12 1 Catania, Italia E-mail: tbiondi@diees.unict.it, ... more ... Catania site, Stradale Primosole 50, 95 12 1 Catania, Italia E-mail: tbiondi@diees.unict.it, fcarrara@ieee.org, antonino.scuderi@st.com ... Harmonic load impedances were tuned for maximum PAE (dual-Class-F operation [5]). The same quiescent current density was set for each of ...

Research paper thumbnail of A lumped scalable physics-based model for silicon spiral inductors

The 10th IEEE International Symposium on Electron Devices for Microwave and Optoelectronic Applications

This paper presents a high accuracy scalable physics-based model for planar spiral inductors, whi... more This paper presents a high accuracy scalable physics-based model for planar spiral inductors, which takes into account both metal and substrate loss phenomena. The model was applied to inductors on an n+-doped radial-patterned ground shield, which was properly optimized by means of 3D EM simulations. After validating a simulation set-up in a 3D EM commercial tool by comparison with on-wafer

Research paper thumbnail of Characterization and modeling of sub-nH integrated inductances

Proceedings of the 21st IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference (IEEE Cat. No.04CH37510)

... Tonio Biondi, Angelo Scuderi, Egidio Ragonese and Giuseppe Palmisano Universita di Catania, F... more ... Tonio Biondi, Angelo Scuderi, Egidio Ragonese and Giuseppe Palmisano Universita di Catania, Facolta di Ingegneria, Dipartimento di lngegneria ... coupling with the underlying substrate limits the self-resonance frequency and the quality factor, whose maximum value appears ...

Research paper thumbnail of The transformer characteristic resistance and its application to the design of rf circuits

Research in Microelectronics and Electronics, 2005 PhD

This paper presents a novel figure of merit for the rating of integrated transformers. The propos... more This paper presents a novel figure of merit for the rating of integrated transformers. The proposed parameter provides a more reliable performance characterization compared to previously reported ones (i.e., insertion loss and maximum available gain), since it is inherently related to the maximization of the available output power in tuned-load RF circuits. As application of the new figure of merit, a highly linear transformer-based up-converter for 5-GHz wireless LANs is presented.

Research paper thumbnail of Lumped Modeling of Differentially Driven Symmetric Inductors for RF IC Design

2006 Bipolar/BiCMOS Circuits and Technology Meeting, 2006

Research paper thumbnail of Method for modeling large-area transistor devices, and computer program product therefor

A method models the electrical characteristics of wide-channel transistors, such as power transis... more A method models the electrical characteristics of wide-channel transistors, such as power transistors, by generating a lumped-element distributed circuit model. More specifically, the active area of the transistor is organized in elementary transistor cells, which are substituted by active lumped elements. Similarly the passive area of the transistor is organized in elementary strip-lines, which are substituted by passive lumped elements. Preferably, the parameters of the lumped elements are extracted automatically from layout information, such as path dimensions, and technological data, such as sheet resistance of the metal layers, sheet resistance of the polysilicon layers and oxide thickness

Research paper thumbnail of Modeling bipolar transistors using multibias S parameter sets

Proceedings RAWCON 2001. 2001 IEEE Radio and Wireless Conference (Cat.No.01EX514), 2001

This paper presents a technique for accurate small-signal modeling of microwave bipolar transisto... more This paper presents a technique for accurate small-signal modeling of microwave bipolar transistors. Model parameters are extracted using measured S parameters in some bias points within the forward active region and then calculated in every point of that region by using a first order interpolation algorithm. The resulting multibias model shows excellent agreement with the measured data over the entire operating region. Moreover, accurate agreement is also achieved with the measured minimum noise figure even though the parameter extraction technique does not make use of noise measurements. Although model parameters are only extracted on measured data at 1 and 5 GHz, scattering parameters are accurately predicted up to 50 GHz, i.e. at a frequency exceeding the transistor FT

Research paper thumbnail of Effect of layout parasitics on the current distribution of power MOSFETs operated at high switching frequency

Journal of Computational Electronics, 2006

The internal electrical characteristics of an 800-V 9-A 0.7-silicon power MOSFET are investigated... more The internal electrical characteristics of an 800-V 9-A 0.7-silicon power MOSFET are investigated using a distributed modelling approach. A cad tool has been developed to automatically extract layout parasitics and create an equivalent spice-like netlist of the device under investigation. The distributed model is employed to investigate the performance of the device during a turn-off switching at different values of the gate fall time. Simulations show that reducing the gate fall time contributes to increase the internal current imbalance leading to current density overshoots, referred to as hot spots. Moreover, faster switching operation forces current density to crowd towards the slowest parts of the device which in turn degrades the overall device ruggedness. These results demonstrate that the proposed modelling approach allows accurate simulation of the internal current distribution identifying the regions where hot spots are more likely to occur.

Research paper thumbnail of Experimental comparison of substrate structures for inductors and transformers

MELECON - IEEE Mediterranean Electrotechnical Conference, 2004

An experimental comparison of the substrate structures for silicon inductive devices is proposed.... more An experimental comparison of the substrate structures for silicon inductive devices is proposed. On-wafer measurements for both inductors and stacked transformers revealed that better performance is achieved by exploiting a n+-doped buried layer as a patterned ground shield. The proposed solution increases inductor quality factor and allows a wide operative bandwidth for transformers to be achieved, as well. Moreover, owing

Research paper thumbnail of Integrated Inductors and Transformers

Integrated Inductors and Transformers, 2010

Research paper thumbnail of Analysis and modeling of thick-metal spiral inductors on silicon

2005 European Microwave Conference, 2005

ABSTRACT In this paper, the analysis and modeling of thick-metal spiral inductors are addressed. ... more ABSTRACT In this paper, the analysis and modeling of thick-metal spiral inductors are addressed. The actual improvements of metal thickening in terms of quality factor are evaluated and related to skin and proximity effects. The inductance decrease due to metal thickening is also investigated and modeled using a modified current-sheet expression. The proposed formula achieves higher accuracy compared to the original one revealing errors below 5% even for thickness-to-width ratio up to 2.5.

Research paper thumbnail of A scalable model for silicon spiral inductors

IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest, 2003

A simple model for monolithic spiral inductors on silicon substrates is presented. Each lumped el... more A simple model for monolithic spiral inductors on silicon substrates is presented. Each lumped element of the model is related to the layout geometry by analytical equations. Moreover, a novel equation for series resistance is also proposed. The model was validated by comparisons with on-wafer measurements over a wide range of geometrical layout parameters.

Research paper thumbnail of A 18-GHz Silicon Bipolar VCO with Transformer-Based Resonator

IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFIC) Symposium, 2006

A silicon bipolar voltage-controlled oscillator for 17-GHz ISM band is presented. The VCO is comp... more A silicon bipolar voltage-controlled oscillator for 17-GHz ISM band is presented. The VCO is composed of a core oscillating at 9 GHz followed by a frequency doubler. It adopts a transformer-based topology to obtain both wide tuning range and low noise performance. The VCO exhibits a tuning range of 4.1 GHz from 16.4 to 20.5 GHz and a phase noise

Research paper thumbnail of A comparative analysis of monolithic spiral inductors in silicon bipolar technology

Southwest Symposium on Mixed-Signal Design, 2003.

... ' Universitl di Catamia, Facoltl di Ingegneria, DIEES V.le A. Doria 6, Catania, 95125, I... more ... ' Universitl di Catamia, Facoltl di Ingegneria, DIEES V.le A. Doria 6, Catania, 95125, Italia eragone@dees.unict.it , tbiondi@dees.unict.it , gpalmisano@dees.unict.it S'IMicroelectronics Stradale Primosole 50, Catania, 95121, Italia peppe.Iongo@st.com 2 ABSTRACT ...

Research paper thumbnail of Inductance calculation of thick-metal inductors

Research in Microelectronics and Electronics, 2005 PhD, 2005

ABSTRACT In this paper, the analysis and modeling of thick-metal spiral inductors are addressed. ... more ABSTRACT In this paper, the analysis and modeling of thick-metal spiral inductors are addressed. The accuracy of a 2.5 D electromagnetic simulator is first validated by comparison with on-wafer experimental measurements. Simulation results are then employed to investigate the effect of metal thickening on inductor performance. The inductance decrease due to metal thickening is modeled by using a modified current-sheet expression. The proposed formula achieves higher accuracy compared to the original one revealing errors below 5% even for thickness-to-width ratio up to 2.5.