A radio-frequency integrated circuit, or RFIC, is an electrical integrated circuit operating in a frequency range suitable for wireless transmission. Applications for RFICs include radar and communications.
There is considerable interest in RFIC research due to the cost benefit of shifting as much of the wireless transceiver as possible to a single technology, which in turn would allow for a system on a chip solution as opposed to the more common system-on-package.[1] This interest is bolstered by the pervasiveness of wireless capabilities in electronics. Current research focuses on integrating the RF power amplifier (PA) with CMOS technology, either by using MOSFETs or SiGe HBTs, on RF CMOS mixed-signal integrated circuit chips.