A 60 GHz low power direct‐conversion quadrature‐phase transmitter in 130 nm CMOS with low profile cavity backed antenna

Abstract

This article presents the analysis, design, and implementation of a 60 GHz transmitter in 130 nm bulk CMOS, focusing on low power and high performance applications. The low power transmitter lineup consists of two double‐balanced Gilbert‐cells with dynamic current injection, on chip FGCPW meandering ring‐hybrid balun, Lange coupler, combiner, preamplifier, and low power transformer coupled power amplifier. A planar antenna with above 6 dB gain is also implemented. The measured output −1 dB compression point of the power amplifier is 9.6 dBm with 8.6 dB gain, and the 3 dB bandwidth is from 47 to 67 GHz (power amplifier) while drawing 90 mA from a 1.2 V supply. The mixer, preamplifer, and drive amplifier consume 12, 26, and 68 mA, respectively. The transmitter up‐converting an IF of 200 MHz to RF at 60.2 GHz achieve a total gain of 17.17 dB (simulated 21.09 dB) and saturation power higher than 9.53 dBm. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:785–789, 2015