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Abstract-Silicon planar and three-dimensional inductors and transformers were designed and characterized on-wafer up to 100 GHz. Self-resonance frequencies (SRFs) beyond 100 GHz were obtained, demonstrating for the first time that spiral structures are suitable for applications such as 60-GHz wireless local area network and 77-GHz automotive RADAR. Minimizing area over substrate is critical to achieving high SRF. A stacked transformer is reported with 21 of 2.5 dB at 50 GHz, and which offers improved performance and less area (30 m 30 m) than planar transformers or microstrip couplers. A compact inductor model is described, along with a methodology for extracting model parameters from simulated or measured -parameters. Millimeter-wave SiGe BiCMOS mixer and voltage-controlled-oscillator circuits employing spiral inductors are presented with better or comparable performance to previously reported transmission-line-based circuits.

A compact and power-efficient serial I/O targeting dense silicon carrier interconnects is reported. Based on expected channel characteristics, the proposed I/O features low-impedance transmitter termination, high-impedance receiver termination, and a receiver with modified DFE with IIR filter feedback (DFE-IIR). The DFE-IIR receiver uses a single additional IIR filter feedback tap to compensate many postcursors without paying the power and area penalty that would be incurred with a conventional high tap-count DFE. Equalization capabilities of the compact I/O at 10 Gb/s are demonstrated over various channels including conventional chip-to-chip and backplane links with half-baud losses of up to 27 dB. Finally, a transmitter-receiver pair operating over a 40-mm on-chip emulated silicon carrier channel was demonstrated to 8.9 Gb/s, at a link power efficiency of 1.9 mW/Gb/s. Index Terms-Backplane channel communication, chip-to-chip communication, compact I/O, continuous-time IIR filter, decision feedback equalizer, serial link, silicon carrier links.

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