ESD and RF switch co-design in SOI CMOS for smartphones from 2G to 5G

This paper reviews a co-design technique for ESD protection and RF transmit/receiver (T/R) switches for smartphones from 2G/3G to 5G. Two design examples are discussed: co-design of a 8.5KV-protected SP10T switch in a 180nm SOI CMOS for quad-band GSM and multiple-band WCDMA smartphones, and analysis of ESD-induced impacts on 28GHz/38GHz SPDT switches in a 45nm SOI CMOS for 5G smartphones. The ESD-RFIC co-design technique allows simultaneous design optimization for both ESD protection and RF switch circuits at whole chip level.