Med Nariman

20.2 A 16TX/16RX 60GHz 802.11ad chipset with single coaxial interface and polarization diversity

The IEEE 802.11ad standard supports PHY rates up to 6.7 Gbps on four 2 GHz-wide channels from 57 to 64 GHz. A 60 GHz system offers higher throughput than existing 802.11ac solutions but has several challenges for high-volume production including: integration in the host platform, automated test, and high link loss due to blockage and polarization mismatch. This paper presents a 802.11ad radio chipset capable of SC and OFDM modulation using a 16TX-16RX beamforming RF front-end, complete with an antenna array that supports polarization diversity. To aid low-cost integration in PC platforms, a single coaxial cable interface is used between chips. The chipset is capable of maintaining a link of 4.6 Gbps (PHY rate) at 10 m.

A fully integrated 22.6dBm mm-Wave PA in 40nm CMOS

A fully integrated 60GHz CMOS PA with a PSAT of 22.6dBm is presented. To our knowledge, this is the highest reported PSAT at mm-waves in standard CMOS. To achieve a high power level, 32 differential PAs are combined through a network of transmission lines, Wilkinson combiners, and a multi-port argyle transformer. This method of combining minimizes loss while implementing a low impedance load (~12Ω) at the drains of each of the last stage PAs. Electromigration and other reliability issues are discussed.

A compact millimeter-wave energy transmission system for wireless applications

A compact energy transmission system in 40nm standard CMOS is presented. The system consists of a 60GHz VCO followed by a quad-core power amplifier as transmitter and an RF-to-DC converter as receiver. The total power delivered by the quad-core PA to its four 50Ω loads is 24.6dBm. The receiver is a complementary cross-coupled rectifier with a measured efficiency of 28% while supplying 1mA of current. The system can support amplitude and frequency modulations and beam-forming capabilities for wireless applications with minimal front-end complexities.

A multichannel, multicore mm-Wave clustered VCO with phase noise, tuning range, and lifetime reliability enhancements

Clustering and multi-core transformer coupling techniques are presented to improve phase noise, tuning range, and reliability of a mm-wave VCO. A proofof-concept design targeting the WiGig protocol is shown. Each cluster of VCOs covers one channel resulting in better phase noise performance. Multicores of VCOs with uncorrelated noise are combined using transformers to further enhance phase noise and combat the voltage swing reliability issues. Furthermore, due to realization of multiple inductive elements in parallel instead of one small inductor, this approach bypasses Q-degradation of small inductors (<;50pH). The VCO achieves a phase noise of -101.8dBc/Hz at 1MHz offset with over 12.6% tuning range (50.7GHz to 57.5GHz) and an FOM of -183dB/Hz.

A Compact 60-GHz Wireless Power Transfer System

The first reported full-system 60-GHz wireless power transfer (WPT) solution that can power batteryless and charge coil-free compact WPT devices is presented. The system is fabricated in a 40-nm digital CMOS process and an inexpensive packaging material. In the rectenna (RX), a grid antenna is integrated with a complementary cross-coupled oscillator-like rectifier. At a 4-cm spacing from the transmitter (TX), the RX harvests energy at a rate of 1.22 mW with a 32.8% efficiency, which is significantly higher than the prior state of the art. A novel theoretical analysis of the rectifier operation is presented that formulates all key specifications. The TX is equipped with a quad-core PA that produces a saturated output power (Psat) of 24.6 dBm, which is the highest power delivery in digital CMOS at millimeter-wave bands. The TX peak power-added efficiency is 9.4%. In the TX, a 4 × 8-way differential power combining and a binary-tree architecture are implemented. The designed 2 × 2 grid array antenna helps the TX produce 35.3-dBm peak equivalent isotropically radiated power. The results of the performance characterizations of the full-system and all individually fabricated blocks are reported. The quadcore PA supports power control and beam steering. A four-port TX antenna is designed that shows a 70° steering range in simulations.

A Rel-12 2G/3G/LTE-Advanced 3CC Cellular Receiver

This work presents a receiver capable of receiving three simultaneous cellular channels with an aggregate bandwidth of 60 MHz, enabling a 300 Mb/s downlink rate. The receiver has 16 RF LNA ports covering the cellular bands within the 572-2700 MHz frequency range. It supports LTE-advanced Rel-12 Cat6, HSPA+ Rel-11, TD-SCDMA Rel-9, and GSM/EDGE Rel-9. The 40 nm CMOS receiver consumes 13.7 and 17.6 mA of battery current in 3G and LTE modes, respectively, including the PLL, DCXO, and biasing for a single channel.

A Rel-12 2G/3G/LTE-advanced 2CC transmitter

This work presents a cellular transceiver capable of transmitting two simultaneous channels with an aggregate bandwidth of up to 40 MHz, supporting a 100 Mbps uplink rate. The transmitter has 8 RF output ports covering the cellular transmit bands within the 572–2100 MHz frequency range. It can support TX LTE-advanced Rel-12 Cat7, HSPA+ Rel-11, TDSCDMA Rel-9, and GSM/EDGE Rel-9. The 40 nm CMOS transmitter consumes 22 mA and 27 mA in 3G and LTE modes (at 0 dBm antenna power), respectively, including the PLL, DCXO and biasing for a single channel.

A Rel-12 2G/3G/LTE-advanced 3CC receiver

This work presents a cellular receiver capable of receiving three simultaneous channels with an aggregate bandwidth of 60 MHz, enabling a 300 Mbps downlink rate. The receiver has 16 RF LNA ports covering the cellular bands within the 572-2700 MHz frequency range. It supports LTE-advanced Rel-12 Cat6, HSPA+ Rel-11, TD-SCDMA Rel-9, and GSM/EDGE Rel-9. The 40 nm CMOS receiver consumes 13.7 mA and 17.6 mA of battery current in 3G and LTE modes, respectively, including the PLL, DCXO, and bia sing for a single channel.

High-Efficiency Millimeter-Wave Energy-Harvesting Systems With Milliwatt-Level Output Power

The output power level and the power conversion efficiency (PCE) rate of the energy-harvesting systems are vital factors in realizing effective millimeter-wave wireless power transfer solutions that can power battery-less and charge coil-free smart everyday objects. Two 60-GHz energy harvesters that use a tuned complementary cross-coupled oscillator-like rectifying circuitry in 40-nm digital CMOS process are presented. They harvest energy at power rates and peak PCE levels in excess of 1 mW and 30%. These figures are significantly higher than those of the prior art. In one design, two rectifier stages are in a cascode configuration to produce higher dc output voltage levels at the low-current regime. Novel theoretical analyses of the unique rectifying circuitry of the single-stage and two-stage cascode harvesters are presented, which formulate all of the key specifications.

A Rel-12 2G/3G/LTE-Advanced 2CC Transmitter

Carrier aggregation is a key feature of the 3GPP LTE-Advanced cellular network standard that combines multiple channels to support higher data rates and improve the utilization of fragmented spectrum holdings. This work presents a cellular transmitter capable of transmitting a maximum of four channels simultaneously, two contiguous channels in two bands, with an aggregate bandwidth of up to 80 MHz, supporting a 200 Mbps uplink rate. The transmitter has 8 RF output ports covering the cellular transmit bands within the 572-2025 MHz frequency range. It can support LTE-Advanced Release 12 Cat7, HSPA + Release 11, TDSCDMA Release 9, and GSM/EDGE Release 9. The 40 nm CMOS transmitter consumes 22 mA and 27 mA in 3G and LTE modes (at 0 dBm antenna power), respectively, including the PLL, DCXO, and biasing for a single channel.