Scott K. Reynolds

A silicon 60GHz receiver and transmitter chipset for broadband communications

An integrated SiGe superheterodyne RX/TX pair capable of Gb/s data rates in the 60GHz band is described. The 6dB NF RX includes an image-reject LNA, a multistage down-converter with on-chip IF filters, a frequency tripler, a PLL, and baseband outputs. The 10 to 12dBm P1dBTX achieves 10% PAE in the final stage. It includes a PA, image-reject driver, multistage up-converter with on-chip filters, tripler, and PLL

SiGe bipolar transceiver circuits operating at 60 GHz

A low-noise amplifier, direct-conversion quadrature mixer, power amplifier, and voltage-controlled oscillators have been implemented in a 0.12-/spl mu/m, 200-GHz f/sub T/290-GHz f/sub MAX/ SiGe bipolar technology for operation at 60 GHz. At 61.5 GHz, the two-stage LNA achieves 4.5-dB NF, 15-dB gain, consuming 6 mA from 1.8 V. This is the first known demonstration of a silicon LNA at V-band. The downconverter consists of a preamplifier, I/Q double-balanced mixers, a frequency tripler, and a quadrature generator, and is again the first known demonstration of silicon active mixers at V-band. At 60 GHz, the downconverter gain is 18.6 dB and the NF is 13.3 dB, and the circuit consumes 55 mA from 2.7 V, while the output buffers consume an additional 52 mA. The balanced class-AB PA provides 10.8-dB gain, +11.2-dBm 1-dB compression point, 4.3% maximum PAE, and 16-dBm saturated output power. Finally, fully differential Colpitts VCOs have been implemented at 22 and 67 GHz. The 67-GHz VCO has a phase noise better than -98 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset, and provides a 3.1% tuning range for 8-mA current consumption from a 3-V supply.

A Silicon 60-GHz Receiver and Transmitter Chipset for Broadband Communications

A 0.13-mum SiGe BiCMOS double-conversion superheterodyne receiver and transmitter chipset for data communications in the 60-GHz band is presented. The receiver chip includes an image-reject low-noise amplifier (LNA), RF-to-IF mixer, IF amplifier strip, quadrature IF-to-baseband mixers, phase-locked loop (PLL), and frequency tripler. It achieves a 6-dB noise figure, -30 dBm IIP3, and consumes 500 mW. The transmitter chip includes a power amplifier, image-reject driver, IF-to-RF upmixer, IF amplifier strip, quadrature baseband-to-IF mixers, PLL, and frequency tripler. It achieves output P1dB of 10 to 12dBm, Psat of 15 to 17 dBm, and consumes 800 mW. The chips have been packaged with planar antennas, and a wireless data link at 630 Mb/s over 10 m has been demonstrated

A Fully Integrated 16-Element Phased-Array Transmitter in SiGe BiCMOS for 60-GHz Communications

A fully-integrated 16-element 60-GHz phased-array receiver is implemented in IBM 0.12-μm SiGe BiCMOS technology. The receiver employs RF-path phase-shifting and is designed for multi-Gb/s non-line of sight links in the 60-GHz ISM band (IEEE 802.15.3c and 802.11ad). Each RF front-end includes variable-gain LNAs and phase shifters with each front-end capable of 360° variable phase shift (11.25° phase resolution) from 57 GHz to 66 GHz with coarse/fine gain steps. A detailed analysis of the noise trade-offs in the receiver array design is presented to motivate architectural choices. The hybrid active and passive signal-combining network in the receiver uses a differential cross-coupled Gysel power combiner that reduces combiner loss and area. Each array front-end has 6.8-dB noise figure (at 22°C ) and the array has -10 dB to 58 dB programmable gain from single-input to output. Sixteen 60-GHz aperture-coupled patch-antennas and the RX IC are packaged together in multi-layer organic and LTCC packages. The packaged RX IC is capable of operating in all four IEEE 802.15.3c channels (58.32 to 64.8 GHz). Beam-forming and beam-steering measurements show good performance with 50-ns beam switching time. 5.3-Gb/s OFDM 16-QAM and 4.5 Gb/s SC 16-QAM links are demonstrated using the packaged RX ICs. Both line-of-sight links (~7.8 m spacing) and non-line-of-sight links using reflections (~9 m total path length) have been demonstrated with better than -18 dB EVM. The 16-element receiver consumes 1.8 W and occupies 37.7 mm2 of die area.

A chip-scale packaging technology for 60-GHz wireless chipsets

In this paper, we present a cost-effective chip-scale packaging solution for a 60-GHz industrial-scientific-medical band receiver (Rx) and transmitter (Tx) chipset capable of gigabit-per-second wireless communications. Envisioned applications of the packaged chipset include 1-3-Gb/s directional links using amplitude shift-keying or phase shift-keying modulation and 500-Mb/s-1-Gb/s omni-directional links using orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing modulation. This paper demonstrates the first fully package-integrated 60-GHz chipset including receive and transmit antennas in a cost-effective plastic package. A direct-chip-attach (DCA) and surface mountable land-grid-array (LGA) package technology is presented. The size of the DCA package is 7times11 mm2 and the LGA package size is 6times13 mm2. Optionally, the Tx and Rx chip can be packaged together with Tx and Rx antennas in a combined 13times13 mm2 LGA transceiver package

60GHz transceiver circuits in SiGe bipolar technology

A 60GHz LNA, direct-downconverter, PA, and 20GHz VCO are built in a 200GHz f/sub t/,/f/sub max/, 0.12/spl mu/m SiGe technology. The 10.8mW LNA has 15dB gain, 3.4-4.4dB noise figure and -8.5dBm IIP3. The down converter has 16dB gain, >50dB LO-RF isolation, and 13.4-14.8dB noise figure. The PA delivers 10dBm at 9dB gain.

Chemical vapor deposition of copper from 1,5‐cyclooctadiene copper(I) hexafluoroacetylacetonate

We have studied the chemical vapor deposition of copper from 1,5‐cyclooctadiene Cu(I) hexafluoroacetylacetonate, a moderately volatile yellow cystalline solid. It yields pure copper by pyrolytic decomposition at 150–250 °C, produces copper films with near bulk resistivity, and has the advantage of being air stable at room temperature.

A 77 GHz SiGe power amplifier for potential applications in automotive radar systems

We present the performance of a 77 GHz power amplifier for potential applications directed towards automotive radar systems. The circuit was fabricated in a SiGe bipolar preproduction technology. A balanced two-stage common emitter circuit topology was used to achieve 6.1 dB of power gain at 77 GHz and 11.6 dBm output power at 1dB compression. The power amplifier uses a single 2.5 V supply and was fully integrated (including matching elements) to demonstrate its low-cost potential. First experimental results show its broadband characteristic from 40 GHz to 80 GHz and its temperature dependence up to 130/spl deg/C.

LTCC Packages With Embedded Phased-Array Antennas for 60 GHz Communications

A low-cost, fully-integrated antenna-in-package solution for 60 GHz phased-array systems is demonstrated. Sixteen patch antennas are integrated into a 28 mm × 28 mm ball grid array together with a flip-chip attached transmitter or receiver IC. The packages have been implemented using low temperature co-fired ceramic technology. 60 GHz interconnects, including flip-chip transitions and via structures, are optimized using full-wave simulation. Anechoic chamber measurement has shown ~ 5 dBi unit antenna gain across all four IEEE 802.15.3c channels, achieving excellent model-to-hardware correlation. The packaged transmitter and receiver ICs, mounted on evaluation boards, have demonstrated beam-steered, non-line-of-sight links with data rates up to 5.3 Gb/s.

Schottky Barrier Diode Circuits in Silicon for Future Millimeter-Wave and Terahertz Applications

This paper presents Schottky barrier diode circuits fully integrated in a 0.13- mum SiGe BiCMOS process technology. A subharmonically pumped upconverter and a frequency doubler are demonstrated that operate beyond 100 GHz without the need of external components. The upconverter has a size of 430 times 780 mum2 including on-chip matching elements and bond pads. It has a conversion gain of - 6 to - 7 dB from 100 to 120 GHz. The upconverter achieves a high single-sideband saturated output power of - 4 dBm from 100 to 120 GHz and a high linearity with a 1-dB compression point of - 6 dBm. The frequency doubler has a size of 360 times 500 mum2 and can deliver up to 2.5 dBm at 110 GHz.