Jochen Antes

All Active MMIC-Based Wireless Communication at 220 GHz

A wireless data link operating at a carrier frequency of 220 GHz is supporting a data rate of up to 25 Gbit/s in on-off-keyed PRBS as well as complex 256-QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) transmission. The millimeter-wave transmit and receive frontends consist of active multi-functional millimeter-wave microwave integrated circuits (MMICs), realized in 50 nm mHEMT technology and packaged into split-block waveguide modules. The paper presents system considerations for wireless links in the 200-300-GHz range, discusses the design and performance of dedicated broadband transmit and receive MMICs, and presents link experiments. With an RF transmit power of -3.4-1.4 dBm in the IF frequency range from 0 to 20 GHz , a receiver conversion gain of better than -4.8 dB up to 270 GHz and an estimated noise figure of less than 7.5 dB at 220 GHz, a 231-1 PRBS with a data rate of up to 25 Gbit/s is transmitted over 50 cm and received with an eye diagram quality factor >;3 . At 10 Gbit/s, an uncorrected bit-error rate (BER) of 1.6·10-9 is measured over a distance of 2 m. A 256-QAM signal with approx. 14 Mbit/s is received with an uncorrected BER of 9.1·10-4.

100 Gbit/s wireless link with mm-wave photonics

We demonstrate a single-input single-output photonic wireless link at 237.5 GHz with record 100 Gbit/s data transmission over 20 m. We use an optical heterodyne I/Q transmitter and a state-of-the-art active I/Q-MMIC at the receiver.

Transmission of an 8-PSK modulated 30 Gbit/s signal using an MMIC-based 240 GHz wireless link

The transmission of complex modulated data signals with data rates up to 30 Gbit/s is successfully realized using a 240 GHz wireless link based on active MMIC components. The paper presents the transmission of QPSK and 8-PSK modulated signals over a distance of 40 m as well as a characterization of the RF frontend based on S-parameter measurements and back-to-back signal transmission. The link quality is evaluated in terms of error vector magnitude (EVM) measurement. For a symbol rate of 10 GBd, the EVM measurement shows values of 10.3% and 15.2% for the QPSK and 8-PSK signal, respectively.

MMIC-based chipset for multi-Gigabit satellite links in E-band

In this paper, a chipset for a multi-Gigabit satellite links, supporting both the designated up and downlink frequencies in E-Band, is presented. It consists of I/Q-upand downconversion circuits, frequency multipliers for LO signal generation, a low noise amplifier (LNA) with excellent noise performance and a power amplifier with a saturated output power above 22 dBm, all realized in a metamorphic high electron mobility transistor (mHEMT) MMIC process. Link budget calculations taking into account the measured chip performance show the feasibility of a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite downlink with data rates up to 5 Gbit/s.

Performance Estimation for Broadband Multi-Gigabit Millimeter- and Sub-Millimeter-Wave Wireless Communication Links

With the growing interest in high-speed millimeter-wave (mmw) and sub-mmw communication links, detailed studies on the performance limits introduced by nonideal frontend characteristics, e.g., in-phase/quadrature amplitude and phase imbalance, as well as local oscillator phase noise, become indispensable. Only with a detailed insight into the systems behavior, a proper dimensioning and optimization of such wireless links is possible. In this paper we present a performance estimation for broadband wireless links dedicated to multiple tens of Gbit data rate based on known approaches and verify the validity of the estimation by comparison with measurements performed on an E-band wireless frontend. For quadrature phase-shift keying modulated signals and symbol rates of 2 and 5 GBd, the relative error between estimation and measurement is between 1.1 and 2.1%. Furthermore, the estimation approach is used to investigate the performance limiting imperfection of wireless systems operating in the sub-mmw frequency range. Besides the channel noise, the phase noise of the carrier signal is determined as the main limiting factor, especially for systems utilizing extremely broadband modulation bandwidths.

20 Gbit/s wireless bridge at 220 GHz connecting two fiber-optic links

The feasibility of a wireless link at 220 GHz based on electronic upconversion and downconversion is demonstrated, connecting two optical links at data rates of up to 20 Gbit/s. We use either non-return-to-zero on-off keying with data rates up to 20 Gbit/s or electrical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing with data rates up to 9 Gbit/s. The wireless bridge connects the gateways of two spatially separated fiber sections, each with a length of up to 20 km.

Multi-Gigabit Millimeter-Wave Wireless Communication in Realistic Transmission Environments

With the growing interest in millimeter-wave (mmW) communication links, especially for multi-gigabit backhaul applications, detailed studies on the performance limits in terms of achievable transmission distance and data rate, but also, and perhaps even more important, thorough investigations on the influence of different weather conditions gain in importance. In this paper we present a millimeter-wave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC)-based transmit and receive front-end and ultra-broadband wireless data transmission experiments utilizing a 240 GHz carrier frequency in a long-range outdoor scenario as well as measurements inside a climatic wind tunnel. Data rates up to 64 Gb/s and various complex modulation formats are employed. While in the outdoor transmission, the link is tested in terms of maximum achievable transmission distance and data rate as well as alignment accuracy, in the climatic wind tunnel the influence of rain and fog in the transmission path is investigated in a defined and controlled environment.

Multi-gigabit E-band wireless data transmission

This paper presents the wireless data transmission of complex modulated signals in the E-band using a MMIC-based link compared to the current state of the art in millimeter-wave wireless communication. Highly linear and extremely broadband frontend components in combination with the latest equipment to generate and analyze broadband complex data signals are used in this experiment. The received signal quality is evaluated in terms of EVM and BER. An error free QPSK transmission with a data rate of 40 Gbit/s over a wireless distance of 6m is presented, while the transmission of 80 Gbit/s signals, achieved by 16-QAM modulation, results in a BER of 3.7 × 10-3.

220 GHz wireless data transmission experiments up to 30 Gbit/s

A wireless data link using active MMIC components at a carrier frequency of 220 GHz is supporting record data rates of up to 30 Gbit/s. The paper presents receiver sensitivity measurements for data rates up to 30 Gbit/s and wireless data transmission experiments for distances up to 20 m. For this distance a 231 – 1 bit pattern with a data rate of 15 Gbit/s was transmitted. For a transmission distance of 10m it was possible to transmit a 25 Gbit/s signal.

Wireless DVB-C transmission at 220 GHz using active single-chip receive and transmit MMICs

Wireless transmission of DVB-C television signals with up to 256-QAM modulation at an RF frequency of 220 GHz is presented. The RF frontend is employing active single-chip transmit and receive MMICs, realized in 50 nm metamorphic HEMT technology, and packaged into compact waveguide modules. Their LO signal of 10 dBm is applied at the subharmonic frequency of 110 GHz. The transmitter module achieves an output power of −3.4 to 1.3 dBm between 218 and 238 GHz, while the receiver exhibits a conversion loss of only 1 dB due to an integrated LNA stage. The measured uncorrected BER in the coherent transmission setup over a distance of 1 m is 1.7 · 10−5 and 9.1 · 10−4 for a 128- and 256-QAM modulation format, respectively, at an IF carrier frequency of 643 MHz.