Low-Power Narrowband 433 MHz Transceiver IC for Long-Range Drone Communication

This paper presents the design and implementation of a narrowband radio-frequency transceiver integrated-circuit for beyond visual range long-distance drone communications. The receiver adopts a low intermediate-frequency architecture to reduce the direct current and flicker noise effects. Fabricated in a 0.18 μm complementary metal-oxide semiconductor process, the receiver achieved a maximum gain of 110 dB and a noise figure of 3.5 dB. The transmitter provides an output power of up to 15 dBm. The power consumption was 41.4 mW and 37.8 mW in the transmit and receive modes, respectively. A 20 km communication range was verified by link calculations based on the measurement results.