Ichihiko Toyoda

Compact and broad-band three-dimensional MMIC balun

This paper presents a simple and effective technique which compensates for the amplitude and phase differences of the Marchand balun. Compensation is accomplished by interconnecting a short transmission line to a pair of couplers. As a result, Marchand balun with operation frequency ranging as wide as 8.2-30 GHz is achieved. To fabricate the prototype, we adopt three-dimensional monolithic-microwave integrated-circuit technology together with a 2.5 /spl mu/m/spl times/4 layer polyimide structure stacked over a GaAs wafer. The topology yields a circuit area as small as 0.2 mm/spl times/0.4 mm for the balun.

Low voltage, high power T/R switch MMIC using LC resonators

A T/R (transmit/receive) MMIC (monolithic microwave integrated circuit) switch for high-power/low-distortion operation at low control voltage is proposed. LC-resonant switches composed of inductors, capacitors, and switching FETs are incorporated in the TX and RX arms to provide a reverse control scheme which removes the RF voltage limitation in the transmit mode. An LC-resonant T/R switch with total periphery of 2.88 mm exhibits third IMR less than -40 dB for input power up to 28 dBm when controlled at 0 V/2 V.<<ETX>>

Miniaturized Wilkinson power divider using three-dimensional MMIC technology

A miniaturized Wilkinson power divider using three-dimensional (3-D) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) technology is presented. The new power divider utilizes stacked thin film microstrip (TFMS) lines that sandwich a ground plane with a slit between the TFMS lines. The slit effectively widens the upper and lower TFMS-line widths, which makes it possible to stack high-impedance lines with a reasonable conductor strip width and lower loss. The proposed structure also exhibits a coupling between the quarter-wavelength conductor strips of less than -15 dB, simplifying the design for each TFMS line. A fabricated 15-25 GHz Wilkinson power divider, the area of which is only 0.31 mm/spl times/0.52 mm, exhibits a coupling of -4.5/spl plusmn/0.5 dB, isolation of greater than 15 dB, and a phase deviation of less than 3 degrees.

Three-dimensional masterslice MMIC on Si substrate

This paper describes Si based three-dimensional MMIC technology. This technology greatly improves the operating frequency of Si MMICs up to the Ku-band and makes them competitive with GaAs MMICs in the higher frequency band. An X-band amplifier and highly integrated single-chip receiver using Si bipolar transistors are demonstrated to highlight the advantages of the Si 3-D MMIC technology. Cost estimation compared with conventional GaAs 2-D MMICs is also discussed.

A low-voltage, high-power T/R-switch MMIC using LC resonators

A novel T/R switch is proposed for high-power/low-distortion operation at a low control voltage. LC-resonant switches composed of inductors, capacitors, and switch FETs are incorporated in TX and RX arms to provide a reverse control scheme that removes the rf-voltage limitation in the transmit mode, A 1.9-GHz LC-resonant T/R switch MMIC with a total FET periphery of 3.36 mm exhibits 3rd IMR less than -40 dB for an input power up to 31 dBm when controlled at a V/-2 V. This MMIC occupies an area as small as less than 2/spl times/2 mm, This will make it possible to implement advanced T/R-switches at PCS and ISM frequencies below 5 GHz. >

Miniaturized millimeter-wave masterslice 3-D MMIC amplifier and mixer

Masterslice three-dimensional MMIC (3-D MMIC) technology has (even in the millimeter-wave region) the advantages of high integration levels, simple design procedures, short turnaround time, and low fabrication cost. This paper clarifies the advantages of the thin-film microstrip line by drawing comparisons to the characteristics of other transmission lines. The simple design procedures of the masterslice 3-D MMIC are elucidated by referring to fabricated MMICs. A V-band amplifier and an image rejection mixer fabricated by using the same master array are demonstrated. The V-band amplifier offers an 8-dB gain and a 5.3-dB noise figure in the area of just 0.27 mm/sup 2/. The image rejection mixer achieves a conversion gain of /spl sim/10 db and an image rejection ratio of 20 db. The performance of the millimeter-wave 3-D MMICs is competitive with those of the conventional planar-formed MMICs.

Three-dimensional MMIC technology for multifunction integration and its possible application to masterslice MMIC

We first verified that the integration level of multifunction MMICs can be easily increased three-fold by using three-dimensional (3-D) MMIC structure, in comparison to planar ones. The technology was used to build high-density masterslice MMICs on a single footprint in 2/spl times/2 mm by incorporating two levels of ground metals in the 3-D structure.

Three-dimensional passive circuit technology for ultra-compact MMICs

A novel passive circuit technology of a three-dimensional (3D) metal-insulator structure has been developed for ultra-compact MMICs. By combining vertical passive elements, such as a wall-like microwire for shielding or coupling and a pillar-like via connection, with multilayer passive circuits, highly dense and more functional MMICs can be implemented. >

A novel injection-locked oscillator MMIC with combined ultrawide-band active combiner/divider and amplifiers

A subharmonically injection-locked oscillator (ILO) MMIC for local oscillators, synthesizers, and phased-array antennas is proposed. An ultrawide-band four-port active combiner/divider in the oscillator feedback loop provides an FET-oriented circuit topology extremely suitable for single-chip integration, and performs subharmonic injection locking at various subharmonic factors, 1/n. Two types of ILO MMICs were constructed. One of them exhibits a locking range as wide as 1 GHz at n=1, and the other operates at n from 1 to 16, with an output power larger than 5 dBm. The proposed ILO MMIC is promising for applications such as microwave and millimeter-wave synthesizers, large-aperture phased array antennas, frequency-selective FM-receivers, and so on. >

5.8-GHz Series/Parallel Connected Rectenna Array Using Expandable Differential Rectenna Units

This communication demonstrates series and/or parallel connection of the differential rectenna units. The differential rectenna unit provides high expandability of rectenna arrays due to its balanced structure. The proposed rectenna array produces higher voltage and/or more current by the series and/or parallel connection of the rectenna units. In the measurement, 30% RF-DC conversion efficiency at the power density of 0.03 W/m2 was achieved in all the case of series and/or parallel four-units connected rectenna array. The maximum conversion efficiency was about 38% in the case of the series-parallel connection. As the proposed rectenna arrays can be easily expanded to large scale integrated rectenna arrays, it will be practically attractive for wireless power transmission.