Module 1-1:

Preliminaries and Fun Stuff

Fall 2021
Prof. Niknejad

Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley

EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Course Logistics
⚫ Instructors: Ali Niknejad
⚫ Lectures: MW 2-3:30 (540AB Cory Hall) Grading
⚫ Discussions (mandatory): Policy
– Tu 4PM (531 Cory) Homework 25%
– M 1PM (220 Wheeler)
Labs 25%
⚫ Labs (125 Cory) (mandatory):
– M 5-8 PM (18 enrolled) Midterm 25%
– Tu 11-2 PM (12 enrolled) Final 25%

⚫ Office Hours: Prof. Niknejad: 511 Cory (Do these times work?)
– TuTh 9:30-10:30 AM

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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

EE 105 “Online”
⚫ Google Calendar: Subscribe for all the class related links / dates /
times (most up to date resource)
⚫ bCourses for lecture slides, homework assignments, labs and
solutions
⚫ Course lectures (audio/screen) will be recorded
– Attend in person unless you’re sick or out of town
⚫ Piazza for online questions and discussions
– piazza.com/berkeley/fall2021/eleng105
– Mostly student run
– GSI resources are very limited this semester so don’t expect someone to be
online 24/7
3 – piazza.com/berkeley/fall2021/eleng105
Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

GSI Team

⚫ Benyuan Yi (benyuanyi_liu@eecs.berkeley.edu )
– Head GSI
– A graduate student in my group with IC related research
experience

⚫ Rami Hijab (ramihijab@berkeley.edu)

– Berkeley undergrad with 16AB/105/140/142 badges.
– Also active member of my research group.
– I’m sure he has some valuable advice !

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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Course Notes / “Textbook”

⚫ All class notes have been typeset in Latex
⚫ An accompanying mini-textbook has also been written that closely
coincides with the lecture slides
⚫ All this material will be available to you online through bCourses
⚫ If you find any errors, please let me know ! Previous generation of
students found many typos and hopefully the notes are mostly bug
free.

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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Optional Textbook

⚫ Recommended textbook
⚫ Coverage of device physics is a
bit light but a good first book for
circuits
⚫ Older editions perfection fine
(fundamentals don’t change)
⚫ Don’t rely completely on the
textbook. Please attend lectures
and read my notes (and annotate
them so you understand them)
6 Sedra/Smith, Microelectronic Circuits, 7th edition
Department of EECS Oxford University Press University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

A Gem of a Book (but not for this class)

⚫ http://artofelectronics.net
⚫ Teaches electronics without any device physics
⚫ Great way to learn a lot of stuff from analog to
digital, low noise, instrumentation, etc.
⚫ Definitely read this book and check out the
website!

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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Semiconductor Device Physics

⚫ Semiconductor Device Fundamentals

2nd Edition
– by Robert F. Pierret
⚫ Standard undergraduate textbook.
Coverage is deeper than 105 and more
suitable for 130 but if you’re curious …

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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

EECS Map: You Are Here

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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

105 Modules (Order May Change)

⚫ Module 1: Linear Time-Invariant (LTI) Systems
– Time-domain characterization of LTI systems (impulse response)
– Frequency-domain characterization of LTI systems
– AC Circuits
⚫ Module 2: Op-Amp and Diode Circuits
– Introduction to feedback
– Real Op-Amps (finite gain, offset, bandwidth, etc)
– Diode Circuits
⚫ Module 3: Semiconductors and PN-Junctions
– Semiconductors
– IC Technology
10 – PN-Junction Physics (diode I-V curve)
Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

105 Modules (cont)

⚫ Module 4: Transistor Devices
– MOS Capacitor
– MOSFET
– DC Small-Signal Models
– AC Small-Signal Models
– BJT Device Physics
⚫ Module 5: Single and Multi-Stage Amplifiers
– Single-Stage; BJT Amplifier ; Current mirrors
– Frequency Response
– Multi-Stage
⚫ Module 6: A Peek Inside an Op-Amp (140 territory)
11 – Differential Amplifiers ; Two-Stage Op-Amp
Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Transistors and Circuits!

⚫ When the inventors of the bipolar transistor (Bell

Labs) first got a working device, the first thing
they did was to build an audio amplifier to prove
that the transistor was actually working!
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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Modern ICs
• Modern IC: Apple 64-bit A12 (7nm transistors,
6.9 billion transistors, 2.49 GHz)

My first love:
MOS Technology 6502
(hear of Commodore 64),
Source: Texas Instruments 8-bit processor, 1 MHz
clock speed, 3510
⚫ First IC transistors, 8µm
– Texas Instrumetns, Jack Kilby, technology
1958: A couple of transistors

• “Robert Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductor invented a way to connect the

IC components (aluminium metallization) and proposed an improved
version of insulation based on the planar technology by Jean Hoerni.”
13 (Wikipedia) Noyce later co-founded Intel with Gordon Moore.
Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

What is a Transistor?

⚫ Transistors are the building blocks of all modern integrated

circuits.
– Transistors amplify signals (controlled source)
– Transistors control signals (switch)
⚫ With a transistor and a “wire”, you can build an endless
possibility of circuits that do useful things. Resistors,
capacitors, and inductors are also occasionally needed.
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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Very Simple Picture of Transistor

⚫ Conductivity of channel modulated by gate voltage

– Voltage controlled resistor
– Switch
⚫ Interesting behavior:
– Device can act like a current source when biased correctly … more on this later
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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Transistor as Si Brick

⚫ Logic gates and memory

⚫ Small-Signal amplifier
⚫ Large-Signal power device
⚫ Low-loss switching devices
(mixers)
⚫ Low cost RF Example
– Enabled the 2G, 3G, and 4G and
WiFi, BT revolutions
– Now enabling 5G

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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Berkeley SPICE

SPICE was developed at the Electronics Research Laboratory of the University of California, Berkeley by Laurence Nagel with direction from
his research advisor, Prof. Donald Pederson. SPICE1 …. SPICE1 was first presented at a conference in 1973.

⚫ Designing circuits with dozens of transistors by hand is quickly challenging.

⚫ Today we routinely design analog circuits with hundreds to thousands of
transistors, and digital circuits with billions (trillions if you count some recent
AI chips)
⚫ Computer simulation is important for design and verification of these circuits
17 – SPICE was born at Berkeley and it’s the heart of many commercial simulation engines
Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Cadence EDA CAD Tools

⚫ A modern implementation of SPICE (Spectre) with

a graphics front-end for schematics and layout.
⚫ A collection of hundreds of tools for doing analog,
digital mixed-signal, and RF design.
18⚫ We’ll use (“touch”) Cadence in this course
Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Modeling Transistors

⚫ Transistors are very complicated if you want all the gory details ...
⚫ In a high level language, a single transistor is described with thousands
of lines of code (10X more in a lower level language like “C”)
⚫ Berkeley builds and maintains the world standard compact models for a
family of transistors in the BSIM model
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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Switch

⚫ Three terminal device with one control terminal.

⚫ Voltage at control terminal changes resistance between two terminals from
“open” to “closed” state (from “on” to “off”
⚫ The switch model is key to building logic circuits. Switching speed limited by
capacitance.
20 ⚫ Note: Early computers built with mechanical switches …
Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Amplifier

⚫ Instead of a switch, imagine a value … you can vary the rate of flow by
turning valve.
⚫ A large current can be controlled by turning the valve... There’s gain in the
system. The large current can be doing a lot of work, but turning the value
21 is easy
Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Memory Element

⚫ Transistors in positive feedback form bi-stable circuits

⚫ As long as power is applied to the circuit, the feedback ensures that the
state is stored
⚫ This is how SRAM works
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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Non-Volatile Memory

⚫ By designing a special transistor with a

floating gate, we can store charge (through
quantum mechanical tunneling) onto the
gate to keep the information even in the
absense of a supply voltage.
⚫ This is how FLASH memory works…
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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Moore’s Law
⚫ Transistor count doubles
every 2 years (18 months)
⚫ You’ve no doubt heard
about this before. It has
held true for decades
driving advancements in
the semiconductor
industry.
⚫ A mainframe filling an
entire room now fits
inside your pocket

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor_count

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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Another Perspective on Moore

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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

741 Op-Amp (Historical)…

The 741 is one of the

best known IC op-
amps. It’s not the
best and there are
hundreds of others
out there that are
specialized for
different applications.

⚫ Analog integrated circuits have also benefited greatly from IC technology by

integrated complex circuits onto a single die
⚫ The op-amp is a well crafted amplifier that you know and love … building it
26 discretely is impractical as we will learn
Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

What do you see?

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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Input Stage

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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

What are these?

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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Gain Stage

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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Output Stage

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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Diodes

⚫ Inside every transistor, there’s a few diodes

⚫ In some transistors, these diodes are the key (as
we’ll learn) to the device functionality
⚫ A diode is a non-linear element that only allows
current to flow in one direction …
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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Rectifiers

⚫ AC to DC conversion is routinely performed by diode rectifiers

⚫ The same circuit can also detect the peak or average value of a signal
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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Solar Cell Diodes

Cells are diodes

too!

⚫ Diodes are also the best way to convert solar energy into electricity
⚫ Solar energy is “free” and advancements in the technology have
reduced the cost, improved the efficiency, and also decreased the
energy to manufacture solar cells
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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Silicon RF
⚫ Radio frequency
circuits use transistors
in countless ways.
⚫ In the past 20 years
RF circuits have
become completely
integrated circuits,
mostly in CMOS
technology:
– WiFi and Mobile
Cellular
– 100 MHz to over 100
35 GHz !
Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

RF Multi-Band Transceiver IC’s

Dozens of inductors/transformers are used in Qualcomm’s RTR8600, a multi-band

36 multi-mode RF transceiver found in the Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy phones.
Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

The World of Si Sensors

⚫ MEMS technology, pioneered here (Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center,

BSAC), uses the same process to fabricate silicon ICs to build low cost
sensors
⚫ Mechanical signals can be coupled readily into the electronical domain
– Accelerometers, pressure, chemical, gyroscopes, microphones, resonators and
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filters…
Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

IoT

https://www.linkedin.com/topic/internet-of-things

⚫ The Internet of Things (IoT) revolution is happening today

⚫ Sensors can be placed everywhere and wireless connectivity allows
intelligent buildings, factories, cars, and even toasters
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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Diode -- LED

⚫ A light emitting diode (LED) converts electrical energy into photons of light
– Extremely efficient … revolutionizing lighting
39 ⚫ Runs off DC current
Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

LED Efficiency

40
Department of EECS http://www.designrecycleinc.com/led%20comp%20chart.html University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Photonics

⚫ Laser diodes can create coherent light and modulate the amplitude to carry
information
⚫ Our good friend the diode can also respond very quickly to light if biased correctly
(not as a solar cell)
⚫ Signals can be transported across the ocean with low loss … Fiber optic
41 communication is the most efficient way to send information across a long distance
Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Medical Electronics

⚫ Inside every medical device, you will find a range

of sensors and interface electronics
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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

ECG / SpO2

⚫ Two commonly used devices to monitor patient health are Electrocardiogram

(ECG) and Blood Oximetry (SpO2) sensors
⚫ ECG uses a bunch of op-amps to amplify a weak signal that can be used to
diagnose the health of the heart
⚫ SpO2 uses light / infrared diodes and photosensors + interface electronics to
43 measure blood oxygen levels
Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Future of Medicine

C
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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Brain-Machine Interfaces

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Department of EECS Hochberg, Nature ‘12 Source: Hochberg et al., Nature ‘12 University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Brain-Machine Interfaces

voltage

Local Field Potential (LFP)

Action Potential
1Hz-300Hz; 10µV-1mV
“spikes” 300Hz-
time 10kHz 10µV-1mV

⚫ Similar to ECG, the goal of a brain-machine interface is to record the small-

amplitude neural signals and pick out the meaningful signals from the “noise”.
⚫ These signals are then decoded to create trajectories, movements, and speeds for
controlling prostheses, computers, etc.
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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Sonogram or Ultrasound

⚫ Sound waves are transmitted inside the body … echos, or reflections, off
different parts of your body are used to reconstruct a 2D or 3D image
⚫ Echo-cardiogram can be used to “see” heart in action
⚫ Integrated circuits and MEMS has revolutionized the scale of these devices ...
47 Handheld devices are now available
Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
 Ultrasound – Powering
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Tomorrow’s Devices

Seo, et al. Neuron 2016

⚫ Ultrasound can also be transformed into electrical power

⚫ It’s efficient propagation through tissue can be used to power and
communicate with tiny implantable sensors that monitor nerves, organs, body
temperature and more!
48 ⚫ Neural dust: Invented at Berkeley!
Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

The Future

implantable

⚫ Soon we will have access to

wearable and implantable medical
devices that will monitor, learn, Source: J. Rabaey, Pervasive. Comp., 2014

49 diagnose and treat disease. Building on concepts such as Human++

(IMEC)
Image courtesy Y. Khan, UCB
Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

5G Revolution
⚫ Berkeley Wireless Research Center (BWRC) played an
important role in demonstrating that mm-wave frequencies
(60 GHz) can be used for communication and low-cost
CMOS technology was a viable option (research started in
2000, early demonstrations by 2004)
⚫ Today mm-wave frequencies are one of the key aspects of
next generation 5G communication systems
– Several Gigabit/second per user
– Low latency
– Less interference due to spatial multi-plexing
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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Perspective

Papal Conclave 2005 Papal Conclave 2013

James Kimery
Director of RF Research and SDR Marketing at NI

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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Hyper Connected Everything

Data rate Power Consumption Security

Capacity Coexistence Monitoring

James Kimery
Director of RF Research and SDR Marketing at NI
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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

5G + IoT

IOT WILL IMPACT 7 THINGS

75% ENGINEERS 50 BILLION FOR EVERY
IN 3 YEARS
DEVICES CONNECTED BY 1 HUMAN
- VDC
2020 - GARTNER

BY 2025
45%
OF THE IOT WILL BE $19
1.9 BILLION INDUSTRIAL TRILLION
SMARTPHONES
- IHS OPPORTUNITY

James Kimery
Director of RF Research and SDR Marketing at NI

53
Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

The Industrial Internet of Things

Big Analog Data

Edge Processing

Smart Smart Smart Smart Smart Smart Smart

Measurement Automated Test Instrumentation Grid Machines Power Communications

Enhanced Requirements for the IIoT

Reliability | Latency | Security | Upgradeability

James Kimery
Director of RF Research and SDR Marketing at NI

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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley
EE 105 Spring 2018 Prof. A. M. Niknejad

Are you ready?

⚫ There are tons of opportunities and challenges in designing the next
generation systems
⚫ The goal of 105 is to give you enough background in the circuits,
device, and system aspects so that you can get involved now !
EE 120 EE 123

EE 16AB EE 105 EE 140 EE 142

EECS 61C
EE 151 EE 240

Tolerable
Fairly Capable
Really Capable
Capable

EE 130
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Department of EECS University of California, Berkeley