RF Validation Engineer

Validation engineers are said to have a ';break-the-part'; mentality. This means they spend some of their time working to identify the use-cases in which the device will stop working as intended and understand the impact and cause of those failures. Sometimes, those are acceptable failures, but others we may need to mitigate for quality, safety, or other reasons. Plus, we want to ensure that our parts are consistently performing to the specifications that we set in our data sheet, and even to some more conservative limits or as defined in the VVCM (validation/verification compliance matrix). To do this, they must design PCB boards and develop automation software that will increase coverage and reduce data collection time. Validation engineers will also design, develop, and implement necessary methods of measuring device performance and troubleshooting any related systems, equipment or device issues that arise. Validation engineers are often working in a post-silicon lab or on the software programs required to run their measurements.

Texas Instruments RF Connectivity group is expanding their RF Transceiver Validation Group in Bangalore, India.

This group develops cutting edge RF Transceiver products (+MCU integrated) for Wireless-LAN (WIFI) and Ultra-Wideband Systems (UWB). The typical transceiver blocks include RF blocks such as LNA, TA, Down-conversion Mixers, Base-band filters, High Speed ADC to send data to the Modem. Reverse Chain namely for Transmitter, starting from DAC, Base-band filter, Up-conversion mixer and Power Amplifier stages to drive the TX Pin. LO system includes Chrystal Oscillator, integer/fractional PLL and LO Distribution systems. Various Calibration modules (AGC, PDET, Gain, Offset, IQMM, etc) to calibrate the Transceiver chain is part of the design. Low Current Mode and Complex Power Management to operate at low LDO input voltage.

The required skills in the job are:

1. System Level Understanding of Radio Transceiver: Basic operating principles of Transmit & Receiver chains, Modulation and system parameters such as PER/BER/SNR and EVM/RMSEE.
2. Debug of the RF Transceiver SoC: Fast and Systematic Identification of the issues in the blocks. Observe and identify the root cause. Drive solutions and not just report problems. The debug would involve either Power & Biasing issues, Incorrect register sequence or incorrect values, Board level issues, Semiconductor Process marginalities etc.
3. RF Measurements: Understanding of each RF, IF and DC measurement. Example in Receiver chain, measurement of Noise Figure & Gain of the chain, Linearity measurements such as P1dB, IIP2, IIP3, IQ gain & Phase error, LO Leakage and DC offsets. DC operating point measurement via Test Mode, DC Voltages and Current Consumption. Similar measurements for TX chain, PLL, Reference Clock.
4. PCB Board Development:  Development of PCB Schematic and Layout, PCB material selection, stackup, review the design and implement the changes. Working with 3^rd party PCB service companies. Familiarity with Altium and Cadence Allegro flows.
5. Test Automation and Interpretation of Measurements: Person is expected to have proficiency in Coding & Automation of the measurement flows including interfacing of instruments. Processing of the measured data across PVT corners, Visualization and the ability to identify between IC and setup issues. Basic understanding of statistics and sources of error.
6. Interfaces: Ability to deign and program interfaces such as SPI, UART, UCI.

The candidate is expected to have strong proficiency in 2 or more of the above list in particular 1-3. A strong team player who is deeply engaged with the Product Development team especially the Radio Design Team.

Minimum expected experience is 6 years. Position is on-site in Bangalore. TI offers attractive compensation and a highly enriching technical environment. Ample opportunities to file Patents and become a Recognised Leader in the respective domain over time.

• Minimum education (ie bachelor's degree in electrical engineering)
• 3-5 years of experience.

• Ability to establish strong relationships with key stakeholders critical to success, both internally and externally
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to quickly ramp on new systems and processes
• Demonstrated strong interpersonal, analytical and problem-solving skills
• Ability to work in teams and collaborate effectively with people in different functions
• Ability to take the initiative and drive for results
• Strong time management skills that enable on-time project delivery