A 1-mW 1.13–1.9 GHz CMOS LC VCO Using Shunt-Connected Switched-Coupled Inductors
Italia, A.; Ippolito, C. M.; Palmisano, G.

This paper shows a lower power LC VCO with a wide tuning range.  The wide range is achieved by using a switched inductor.  The concept was proven on a 90nm design with a VCO range of 1.13GHz – 1.90GHz.  The results look promising, but may have limited use in higher speed situations where the VCO inductor is small.  In such cases, the switch resistance may cause too much degradation of the tank quality factor for this to be a useful technique.

A Dual-Loop Clock and Data Recovery Circuit With Compact Quarter-Rate CMOS Linear Phase Detector
Tan, Y. S.; Yeo, K. S.; Boon, C. C.; Do, M. A.

This papers shows a dual-loop CDR circuit with a new linear phase detector.  An unbalanced charge pump is used to compensate for the unbalanced pulse-width of the phase detector.

Analysis and Optimization of SFDR in Differential Active-RC Filters
Meghdadi, M.; Bakhtiar, M.

This paper presents a method for optimizing active-RC filters to achieve optimal SFDR.

Design and Analysis of a Class-D Stage With Harmonic Suppression
Fritzin, J.; Svensson, C.; Alvandpour, A.

This papers presents a low-power Class-D stage with low harmonic content in the output waveform.

An Experimental Method to Extract the Phase-Sensitivity of Oscillators to Noise Perturbations
Maffezzoni, P.

This papers shows an interesting experimental technique to measure the phase-sensitivity of oscillators to noise signals.  Not sure if this solves a real problem, given the simulation tools that are available that can simulate phase noise with good accuracy.  But from a strictly academic point of view, this is an interest method to verify the fundamentals of phase noise theory that has been presented in other work.

Photovoltaic Sample-and-Hold Circuit Enabling MPPT Indoors for Low-Power Systems
Weddell, A. S.; Merrett, G. V.; Al-Hashimi, B. M.

The paper describes a photovoltaic (PV) energy harvesting suitable for indoor use.  A maximum power point tracking circuit (MPPT) is shown based on a sample-and-hold circuit.  The sampling frequency and bias current of the MPPT circuit is optimized to allow use in low light (indoor) environments.

A Frequency-Based Model for Limit Cycle and Spur Predictions in Bang-Bang All Digital PLL
Liu, D.; Basedau, P.; Helfenstein, M.; Wei, J.; Burger, T.; Chen, Y.

This papers presents a model to examine limit cycle and spurious behavior in bang-bang all-digital phase locked loops.  The model utilizes sigma delta modulator (SDM) analysis to capture the quantization effects of the DCO and the bang-bang phase detector.

A 1-V 5-GHz Self-Bias Folded-Switch Mixer in 90-nm CMOS for WLAN Receiver
Chiou, H.-K.; Lin, K.-C.; Chen, W.-H.; Juang, Y.-Z.

This paper describes a biasing technique for a inverter stage that drives a double balanced mixer.  The pmos transistor is biased through a resistor to the output of the inverter.  The nmos transistor is biased separately.

Integrated SFCW Transceivers for UWB Breast Cancer Imaging: Architectures and Circuit Constraints
Bassi, M.; Bevilacqua, A.; Gerosa, A.; Neviani, A.

Great work on a very important public health issue.  Who would have thought that one transceiver architecture would be better than another for Breast Cancer Imaging?

Quantization Error Spectra Structure of a DTC Synthesizer via the DFT Axis Scaling Property
Talwalkar, S. A.

This paper presents an analysis of phase accumulator quantization in a digital to time (DTC) direct frequency synthesizer.  Using the analysis, spur values can be predicted which closely match measured results.  The analysis can also be used for a flying adder synthesizer.

A Gated FM-UWB System With Data-Driven Front-End Power Control
Zhou, B.; Qiao, J.; He, R.; Liu, J.; Zhang, W.; Lv, H.; Rhee, W.; Li, Y.; Wang, Z.

This paper presents a frequency modulated ultra-wideband (FM-UWB) transceiver system with RF submodules gated by a data-driven control signal.  The design utilizes an 8-modulo fractional-N PLL.