Ankit Agarwal

As a part of my research internship,

• Worked on designing the industry's next generation of on-chip 22 GHz voltage-controlled oscillator, and was able to achieve a phase noise of -117 dBc/Hz at a 1 MHz offset, with a discrete tuning range of 8%.
• I analyzed the challenges posed by the existing architecture of the VCO that was used here, which was designed for a 6 GHz frequency for the product, and gained insights about why the exact same architecture cannot be directly used for designing a 22 GHz VCO with the required tuning range and Phase Noise specs, by doing simulations.
• I analyzed the trade-off between tuning range and phase noise of the VCO, and I did some research on different kinds of oscillator architectures as an attempt to resolve this trade-off.
• I learned about various tools apart from Cadence Virtuoso, such as Helic and Quantus PVS, that were required for layout extraction. Helic was used for inductor synthesis as well.

• Worked on post silicon validation by doing measurements for various blocks inside an RFIC including PLL phase noise, Phase Shifter, block-wise signal power, Transmit Power, amplifier gain measurements,and Noise Figure, and validating each of them with the specifications.
• Worked on creating automation scripts using Python for making the process of chip validation faster and easier.
• Got hands-on experience with various instruments used for measurements like Power Meter, Spectrum Analyzer, Signal Generator, Noise Source.

As a part of Electronics Hardware Team:-

• Worked on designing and testing for the PCB Embedded Hardware for the Handle Bar Keypad Control i.e. the buttons which consisted of an NXP S12 series microcontroller used to communicate with the Vehicle Computer Unit via “LIN protocol” depending upon what button is pressed, on an electric scooter.
• Worked on designing the PCB hardware for a low cost, power efficient DC-DC converter, with an efficiency of about 95%on Orcad Capture tool. It was used for stepping down the 48V supply coming from the battery of Vehicle to 14V, which in turn serves as the supply for the Vehicle Computer Unit in the electric scooter.