EE2: Do we need to downscale our radios below 20nm?

It is well known that CMOS technology scaling benefits digital circuits and systems, but creates numerous challenges for analog/RF circuit designers. Analog and RF operating frequencies have ceased to noticeably improve as wiring dominates over raw transistor performance. The shrinking supply voltage limits dynamic range while gate-leakage mismatch dominates over conventional mismatch mechanisms. As this analog-digital divide widens below the 20nm technology node, it becomes important to ask: Should we continue to downscale our radios? Do analog and RF designers need to “get with the program” and figure out how to design in radically scaled technologies? Will analog and RF circuits look increasingly “digital”? Or, will economic forces rule all, and the high cost of scaled technologies eventually dictate a two-chip “best node for the operating mode” solution?