A Full X-Band Phased-Array Transmit/Receive Module Chip in 65-nm CMOS Technology

Abstract

In this paper, we present a phased-array transceiver chip operating in full X-band (8-12 GHz) in 65-nm CMOS technology. The presented transceiver for the transmit/receive module (TRM) consists of a 6-bit passive phase shifter, a 6-bit attenuator, a bi-directional gain amplifier (BDGA), and a single pole double throw (SPDT) switch connected to the internal power amplifier (PA) and the low-noise amplifier (LNA) to serve as a duplexer. A 64-bit SPI scan-chain is integrated for digital TRM control. The transmitter achieves greater than 15 dB of power gain with 11.84 dBm at the output 1-dB compression point (OP1dB). To achieve a wideband operation of the passive phase shifter, we assigned two different resonant frequencies for the phase leading and lagging networks and aligned the slopes of their phase responses to have the desired phase shifts at the center frequency. The RMS phase error is less than 5 • , and the RMS amplitude error is less than 0.45 dB for all phase and attenuation states within 8-12 GHz while dissipating 216 mW dc power from a 1 V power supply. The receiver shows greater than 15 dB of power gain and has a noise figure (NF) of less than 8.4 dB for the entire X-band. The RMS phase error and the RMS amplitude error are less than 5 • and 0.45 dB, respectively, for all control states within 8-12 GHz. The receiver consumes 110 mW with a 1 V power supply. The transceiver chip occupies an area of 4 × 1.88 mm 2 .

A 5–11 GHz 8-bit Precision Passive True-Time Delay in 65-nm CMOS Technology

“…The true-time delay employs two SPDT (single pole double throw) switches and seven DPDT (double pole double throw) switches to control corresponding delay cells as shown in Fig. 11 [14]. For the SPDT switch, the series transistor (M1) performs the primary switching function, and shunt transistors (M2) are added to improve the isolation between the different paths.…”

“…A phase shifter is a device that generates a desired phase change at the operating frequency. Phase shifters are mainly categorized into quadrature phase shifters [8][9], vector phase shifters [10][11], and high/low-pass filter (HPF/LPF) phase shifters [12][13][14][15]. As illustrated in Fig.…”

C‐band 180‐nm CMOS transmitter front‐end with a three‐stage power amplifier for phased array applications

“…High‐performance microwave transmitter (TX) front‐end is an essential component in phased array systems. Silicon CMOS TX front‐end research has become popular in recent decades, due to its low‐power consumption, high integration, and low cost 1–6 . However, for practical applications, the output power level, the linearity, and the efficiency of a silicon CMOS TX front‐end still need to be improved.…”

A 25.1 dBm 25.9-dB Gain 25.4% PAE X-band Power Amplifier Utilizing Voltage Combining Transformer in 65-nm CMOS

“…Even though an AESA system involves GaAs or GaN-based PAs for the higher output power and efficiency, it still requires a back-end module for the phase and magnitude control of the Tx/Rx signals which is typically realized in a highly-integrated silicon-based process with the driving capability higher than 20-dBm of the output power [13]. Moreover, it is always desirable to integrate a PA into a single CMOS chip for a lower cost and a reduced size in a low-cost short-range radar or communication systems as presented in [14], [15]. Therefore, designing high-performance CMOS PAs in X-band has gained intensive interests [16]- [25].…”