Efficiency Optimized Distributed Transformers for Broadband Monolithic Millimeter-Wave Integrated Power Amplifier Circuits

This paper revises the efficiency optimization equations for magnetic-transformer-based power combiner/ divider impedance transformation networks (e.g., distributed active transformer). It evaluates their usability for high millimeter-wave frequencies, where the distributed behavior of a transformer and its loss become relevant. As is demonstrated, the standard optimization equations do not lead to an optimum result. To enable the optimization of distributed transformers, an extended lumped equivalent circuit model is proposed and used for the derivation of new optimization equations. The novel equations enable the design of magnetic transformers with maximum efficiency. To demonstrate the performance that can be achieved with optimized distributed magnetic transformer networks at millimeter-wave frequencies, measurement results of an R-band (i.e., 170–260 GHz)/H-band (i.e., 220–325 GHz) power amplifier (PA) are presented. With an output power of approximately 6.2 dBm at 260 GHz, the amplifier is among the state of the art for mHEMT PAs operating in this frequency range. With its relative 3-dB bandwidth of 29%, however, it surpasses all those reported mHEMT PAs to date.

[1]  M.K. Sampath.  On addressing the practical issues in the extraction of RLGC parameters for lossy multiconductor transmission lines using S-parameter models , 2008, 2008 IEEE-EPEP Electrical Performance of Electronic Packaging.

[2]  A. Hajimiri,et al.  A Wideband 77-GHz, 17.5-dBm Fully Integrated Power Amplifier in Silicon , 2006, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[3]  Gang Liu,et al.  A 5.8 GHz 1 V Linear Power Amplifier Using a Novel On-Chip Transformer Power Combiner in Standard 90 nm CMOS , 2008, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[4]  Songcheol Hong,et al.  A Wideband Transformer-Coupled CMOS Power Amplifier for $X$-Band Multifunction Chips , 2011, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[5]  Zach Griffith,et al.  A 180mW InP HBT Power Amplifier MMIC at 214 GHz , 2013, 2013 IEEE Compound Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Symposium (CSICS).

[6]  S. Wagner,et al.  Ultra-wideband single-balanced transmitter-MMIC for 300 GHz communication systems , 2014, 2014 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium (IMS2014).

[7]  M. Urteaga,et al.  A 58.4mW solid-state power amplifier at 220 GHz using InP HBTs , 2012, 2012 IEEE/MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest.

[8]  T. Schneider,et al.  All Active MMIC-Based Wireless Communication at 220 GHz , 2011, IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology.

[9]  C.-H. Huang,et al.  Generalized efficiency measure for an Above-IC multifilar transformer applied to multiport integrated passive devices , 2010, 2010 Proceedings 60th Electronic Components and Technology Conference (ECTC).

[10]  M. Tiebout,et al.  A 76–84 GHz SiGe Power Amplifier Array Employing Low-Loss Four-Way Differential Combining Transformer , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[11]  Chuan Wang,et al.  A Physics-Based Equivalent-Circuit Model for On-Chip Symmetric Transformers With Accurate Substrate Modeling , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[12]  Huei Wang,et al.  Millimeter-Wave CMOS Power Amplifiers With High Output Power and Wideband Performances , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[13]  A. Kurdoghlian,et al.  GaN MMIC PAs for E-Band (71 GHz - 95 GHz) Radio , 2008, 2008 IEEE Compound Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Symposium.

[14]  Z. Griffith,et al.  Multi-finger 250nm InP HBTs for 220GHz mm-wave power , 2012, 2012 International Conference on Indium Phosphide and Related Materials.

[15]  H. Massler,et al.  Metamorphic 94 GHz power amplifier MMICs , 2005, IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest, 2005..

[16]  Thomas Zwick,et al.  A 50 to 146 GHz Power Amplifier Based on Magnetic Transformers and Distributed Gain Cells , 2015, IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters.

[17]  T. Zwick,et al.  Transmission of an 8-PSK modulated 30 Gbit/s signal using an MMIC-based 240 GHz wireless link , 2013, 2013 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest (MTT).

[18]  L. Samoska,et al.  A 20 mW, 150 GHz InP HEMT MMIC power amplifier module , 2004, IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters.

[19]  Marcel Abendroth.  Handbook Of Rf And Microwave Power Amplifiers , 2016 .

[20]  W. Yin,et al.  Frequency-Thermal Characterization of On-Chip Transformers With Patterned Ground Shields , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[21]  Changkun Park,et al.  A 1.9-GHz CMOS Power Amplifier Using Three-Port Asymmetric Transmission Line Transformer for a Polar Transmitter , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[22]  P. Chevalier,et al.  160-GHz Power Amplifier Design in Advanced SiGe HBT Technologies With ${P}_{\rm sat}$ in Excess of 10 dBm , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[23]  Y. C. Leong,et al.  65-145 GHz InP MMIC HEMT medium power amplifiers , 2001, 2001 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Sympsoium Digest (Cat. No.01CH37157).

[24]  Kai Kang,et al.  A New Six-Port Transformer Modeling Methodology Applied to 10-dBm 60-GHz CMOS ASK Modulator Designs , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[25]  Q. J. Gu,et al.  Two-Way Current-Combining $W$-Band Power Amplifier in 65-nm CMOS , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[26]  M. Urteaga,et al.  250 nm InP DHBT monolithic amplifiers with 4.8 dB gain at 324 GHz , 2008, 2008 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest.

[27]  Zach Griffith,et al.  190-260GHz High-Power, Broadband PA's in 250nm InP HBT , 2015, 2015 IEEE Compound Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Symposium (CSICS).

[28]  M. Urteaga,et al.  A 220 GHz InP HBT Solid-State Power Amplifier MMIC with 90mW POUT at 8.2dB Compressed Gain , 2012, 2012 IEEE Compound Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Symposium (CSICS).

[29]  P. Reynaert,et al.  Design Considerations for 60 GHz Transformer-Coupled CMOS Power Amplifiers , 2009, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[30]  George I. Haddad,et al.  Characteristics of Coupled Microstrip Transmission Lines-I: Coupled-Mode Formulation of Inhomogeneous Lines , 1970 .

[31]  T. Moon,et al.  Mathematical Methods and Algorithms for Signal Processing , 1999 .

[32]  Thomas Zwick,et al.  A Novel 1$\times$4 Coupler for Compact and High-Gain Power Amplifier MMICs Around 250 GHz , 2015, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[33]  A Leuther,et al.  Dual-Gate GaN MMICs for MM-Wave Operation , 2011, IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters.

[34]  K. Herrick,et al.  W-band metamorphic HEMT with 267 mW output power , 2005, IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest, 2005..

[35]  K. C. Hwang,et al.  W-band GaN power amplifier MMICs , 2011, 2011 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium.

[36]  Ali M. Niknejad,et al.  Electromagnetics for High-Speed Analog and Digital Communication Circuits: Preface , 2007 .

[37]  J. Burghartz,et al.  Substrate effects in monolithic RF transformers on silicon , 2002 .

[38]  Dan Oh,et al.  S-parameters Based Transmission Line Modeling with Accurate Low-Frequency Response , 2006, 2006 IEEE Electrical Performane of Electronic Packaging.

[39]  Sanggeun Jeon,et al.  A Fully-Integrated 40–222 GHz InP HBT Distributed Amplifier , 2014, IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters.

[40]  M. Urteaga,et al.  48.8 mW Multi-Cell InP HBT Amplifier with On-Wafer Power Combining at 220 GHz , 2011, 2011 IEEE Compound Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Symposium (CSICS).

[41]  A. Leuther,et al.  A 130 to 160 GHz broadband power amplifier with binary power splitting topology , 2012, 2012 Asia Pacific Microwave Conference Proceedings.

[42]  Satoshi Masuda,et al.  E-Band 85-mW Oscillator and 1.3-W Amplifier ICs Using 0.12µm GaN HEMTs for Millimeter-Wave Transceivers , 2010, 2010 IEEE Compound Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Symposium (CSICS).

[43]  Vesna Radisic,et al.  A 75 mW 210 GHz Power Amplifier Module , 2011, 2011 IEEE Compound Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Symposium (CSICS).

[44]  Tzyy-Sheng Horng,et al.  Novel formulation of efficiency measure for multifilar transformers in generalized multiport configurations of integrated passive devices , 2012 .

[45]  T. Gaier,et al.  A balanced sub-millimeter wave power amplifier , 2008, 2008 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest.

[46]  O. Ambacher,et al.  A subharmonic chipset for gigabit communication around 240 GHz , 2012, 2012 IEEE/MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest.

[47]  Christian Bredendiek,et al.  A 240 GHz single-chip radar transceiver in a SiGe bipolar technology with on-chip antennas and ultra-wide tuning range , 2013, 2013 IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Symposium (RFIC).

[48]  Kiwon Choi,et al.  A new efficient equivalent circuit extraction method for multi-port high speed package using multi-input multi-output transmission matrix and polynomial curve fitting , 2003, 53rd Electronic Components and Technology Conference, 2003. Proceedings..

[49]  Frank Ellinger,et al.  Modeling bond wires for millimeter wave RFIC design , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Conference on Microwaves, Communications, Antennas and Electronics Systems.

[50]  Jeng-Han Tsai,et al.  Design and Analysis of a 55–71-GHz Compact and Broadband Distributed Active Transformer Power Amplifier in 90-nm CMOS Process , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[51]  Ali M. Niknejad,et al.  Transformer-Coupled Wideband PA in 90 nm CMOS , 2007 .

[52]  Sebastian Diebold.  Transistor- und Leitungsmodellierung zum Entwurf von monolithisch integrierten Leistungsverstärkern für den hohen Millimeterwellen-Frequenzbereich , 2013 .

[53]  A. Leuther,et al.  Millimeter-wave circuits and modules up to 500 GHz based on metamorphic HEMT technology for remote sensing and wireless communication applications , 2011, 2011 IEEE 9th International New Circuits and systems conference.

[54]  T. Zwick,et al.  Balanced medium power amplifier MMICs from 200 to 270 GHz , 2013, 2013 38th International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves (IRMMW-THz).

[55]  Po-Hsin Liu,et al.  A 10-mW Submillimeter-Wave Solid-State Power-Amplifier Module , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[56]  Richard Lai,et al.  A 50 mW 220 GHz power amplifier module , 2010, 2010 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium.

[57]  Chorng-Kuang Wang,et al.  A 1V 19.3dBm 79GHz power amplifier in 65nm CMOS , 2012, 2012 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference.

[58]  K. Aufinger,et al.  An Ultra-Wideband 80 GHz FMCW Radar System Using a SiGe Bipolar Transceiver Chip Stabilized by a Fractional-N PLL Synthesizer , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[59]  James T. Harvey,et al.  History and Evolution of Millimetre-Wave MMICs for Point-to-Point Radio , 2011, 2011 IEEE Compound Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Symposium (CSICS).

[60]  Ali Hajimiri,et al.  Fully integrated CMOS power amplifier design using the distributed active-transformer architecture , 2002, IEEE J. Solid State Circuits.

[61]  Arnulf Leuther,et al.  A 200 GHz Medium Power Amplifier MMIC in Cascode Metamorphic HEMT Technology , 2014, IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters.

[62]  Reza Mahmoudi,et al.  A fully integrated 60GHz distributed transformer power amplifier in bulky CMOS 45nm , 2011, 2011 IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Symposium.

[63]  Ali M. Niknejad,et al.  A compact 1V 18.6dBm 60GHz power amplifier in 65nm CMOS , 2011, 2011 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference.

[64]  Yong-Zhong Xiong,et al.  A D-Band Cascode Amplifier With 24.3 dB Gain and 7.7 dBm Output Power in 0.13 $\mu$m SiGe BiCMOS Technology , 2012, IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters.

[65]  S. C. Cripps,et al.  RF Power Amplifiers for Wireless Communications , 1999 .

[66]  Ali Hajimiri,et al.  A 2.4-GHz, 2.2-W, 2-V fully-integrated CMOS circular-geometry active-transformer power amplifier , 2001, Proceedings of the IEEE 2001 Custom Integrated Circuits Conference (Cat. No.01CH37169).

[67]  A. Leuther,et al.  A 200 GHz Monolithic Integrated Power Amplifier in Metamorphic HEMT Technology , 2009, IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters.

[68]  H. Massler,et al.  A balanced 150–240 GHz amplifier MMIC using airbridge transmission lines , 2012, 2012 Workshop on Integrated Nonlinear Microwave and Millimetre-wave Circuits.

[69]  Zach Griffith,et al.  A 220GHz solid-state power amplifier MMIC with 26.8dB S21 gain, and 55.5mW Pout at 17.0dB compressed gain , 2013, 2013 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest (MTT).

[70]  H. Massler,et al.  A 144 GHz power amplifier MMIC with 11 dBm output power, 10 dB associated gain and 10 % power-added efficiency , 2009, 2009 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest.

[71]  Mark J. W. Rodwell,et al.  Millimeter-Wave Series Power Combining Using Sub-Quarter-Wavelength Baluns , 2014, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[72]  Y.C. Chen,et al.  A 95-GHz InP HEMT MMIC amplifier with 427-mW power output , 1998, IEEE Microwave and Guided Wave Letters.

[73]  M. Micovic,et al.  70–105 GHz wideband GaN power amplifiers , 2012, 2012 7th European Microwave Integrated Circuit Conference.

[74]  Patrick Reynaert,et al.  60GHz power amplifier with distributed active transformer and local feedback , 2010, 2010 Proceedings of ESSCIRC.

[75]  Songcheol Hong,et al.  A 77-GHz CMOS Power Amplifier With a Parallel Power Combiner Based on Transmission-Line Transformer , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[76]  Bernd Heinemann,et al.  A 135–170 GHz power amplifier in an advanced sige HBT technology , 2013, 2013 IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Symposium (RFIC).

[77]  R. Mongia.  RF and microwave coupled-line circuits , 1999 .

[78]  U.R. Pfeiffer,et al.  A 23-dBm 60-GHz Distributed Active Transformer in a Silicon Process Technology , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[79]  W. R. Eisenstadt,et al.  S-parameter-based IC interconnect transmission line characterization , 1992 .

[80]  T. Zwick,et al.  A 65 – 100 GHz impedance transforming hybrid coupler for a V- /W-band AlGaN/GaN MMIC , 2013, 2013 European Microwave Integrated Circuit Conference.

[81]  O. Ambacher,et al.  450 GHz amplifier MMIC in 50 nm metamorphic HEMT technology , 2012, 2012 International Conference on Indium Phosphide and Related Materials.

[82]  Huei Wang,et al.  Design and Analysis of Stacked Power Amplifier in Series-Input and Series-Output Configuration , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[83]  Ali Hajimiri,et al.  Distributed active transformer-a new power-combining and impedance-transformation technique , 2002 .