Design and Modeling Considerations for Fully-Integrated Silicon W-Band Transceivers

This paper presents circuit design methodologies, modeling techniques, and circuit architectures for silicon transceivers above 77 GHz. The architectures of three existing CMOS and SiGe BiCMOS receivers and transceivers are compared to demonstrate the variety of choices available to the circuit designer, and to highlight design challenges that arise in transceivers above 77 GHz. A comparison of 65 nm CMOS and 130 nm SiGe BiCMOS circuits illustrates the suitability of both technologies in W-Band systems. Inductor and transformer scaling is demonstrated beyond 160 GHz, and the extension of an existing modeling technique for inductors is shown to accurately model transformers and transmission lines. The optimum biasing of power amplifiers is investigated in CMOS and SiGe HBT technologies.

[1]  Sorin P. Voinigescu,et al.  CMOS SOCs at 100 GHz: System Architectures, Device Characterization, and IC Design Examples , 2007, 2007 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems.

[2]  J. Powell,et al.  A 77-GHz Receiver Front End for Passive Imaging , 2007, 2007 IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFIC) Symposium.

[3]  A. Hajimiri,et al.  A 77-GHz Phased-Array Transceiver With On-Chip Antennas in Silicon: Receiver and Antennas , 2006, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[4]  S.P. Voinigescu,et al.  Low-Power, Low-Phase Noise SiGe HBT Static Frequency Divider Topologies up to 100 GHz , 2006, 2006 Bipolar/BiCMOS Circuits and Technology Meeting.

[5]  H.-M. Rein,et al.  Fully integrated SiGe VCOs with powerful output buffer for 77-GHz automotive Radar systems and applications around 100 GHz , 2004, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[6]  B. Floyd,et al.  Silicon Millimeter-Wave Radio Circuits at 60-100 GHz , 2007, 2007 Topical Meeting on Silicon Monolithic Integrated Circuits in RF Systems.

[7]  R. Lachner,et al.  A SiGe monolithically integrated 75 GHz push-push VCO , 2006, Digest of Papers. 2006 Topical Meeting on Silicon Monolithic Integrated Circuits in RF Systems.

[8]  K. Aufinger,et al.  SiGe Circuits for Automotive Radar , 2007, 2007 Topical Meeting on Silicon Monolithic Integrated Circuits in RF Systems.

[9]  K. Aufinger,et al.  A low-noise amplifier at 77 GHz in SiGe:C bipolar technology , 2005, IEEE Compound Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Symposium, 2005. CSIC '05..

[10]  P. Chevalier,et al.  Design and Scaling of W-Band SiGe BiCMOS VCOs , 2007, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[11]  M. Woo,et al.  Low cost 65nm CMOS platform for Low Power & General Purpose applications , 2004, Digest of Technical Papers. 2004 Symposium on VLSI Technology, 2004..

[12]  P. Chevalier,et al.  The Invariance of the Noise Impedance in n-MOSFETs across Technology Nodes and its Application to the Algorithmic Design of Tuned Low Noise Amplifiers , 2007, 2007 Topical Meeting on Silicon Monolithic Integrated Circuits in RF Systems.

[13]  B. Floyd,et al.  V-band and W-band SiGe bipolar low-noise amplifiers and voltage-controlled oscillators , 2004, 2004 IEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFIC) Systems. Digest of Papers.

[14]  Sorin P. Voinigescu,et al.  65-nm CMOS, W-Band Receivers for Imaging Applications , 2007, 2007 IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference.

[15]  S.T. Nicolson,et al.  Methodology for Simultaneous Noise and Impedance Matching in W-Band LNAs , 2006, 2006 IEEE Compound Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Symposium.

[16]  A. Mangan,et al.  De-embedding transmission line measurements for accurate modeling of IC designs , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[17]  S.P. Voinigescu,et al.  A High-Gain, Low-Noise, +6dBm PA in 90nm CMOS for 60-GHz Radio , 2007, 2007 IEEE Compound Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Symposium.

[18]  Arpad L. Scholtz,et al.  A 79GHz SiGe-Bipolar Spread-Spectrum TX for Automotive Radar , 2007, 2007 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference. Digest of Technical Papers.

[19]  S.P. Voinigescu,et al.  The Invariance of Characteristic Current Densities in Nanoscale MOSFETs and Its Impact on Algorithmic Design Methodologies and Design Porting of Si(Ge) (Bi)CMOS High-Speed Building Blocks , 2006, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[20]  S.P. Voinigescu,et al.  A 77-79-GHz Doppler Radar Transceiver in Silicon , 2007, 2007 IEEE Compound Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Symposium.

[21]  S.P. Voinigescu,et al.  30-100-GHz inductors and transformers for millimeter-wave (Bi)CMOS integrated circuits , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[22]  P. Schvan,et al.  Frequency Scaling and Topology Comparison of Millimeter-wave CMOS VCOs , 2006, 2006 IEEE Compound Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Symposium.

[23]  H. Jager,et al.  A Low-Power Low-Noise Single-Chip Receiver Front-End for Automotive Radar at 77 GHz in Silicon-Germanium Bipolar Technology , 2007, 2007 IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFIC) Symposium.

[24]  P. Chevalier,et al.  80/160-GHz Transceiver and 140-GHz Amplifier in SiGe Technology , 2007, 2007 IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFIC) Symposium.

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

[26]  M. Wurzer,et al.  86 GHz static and 110 GHz dynamic frequency dividers in SiGe bipolar technology , 2003, IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest, 2003.

[27]  K. Aufinger,et al.  An 80 GHz SiGe Quadrature Receiver Frontend , 2006, 2006 IEEE Compound Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Symposium.

[28]  Hao Li,et al.  An Integrated SiGe-BiCMOS Low Noise Transmitter Chip with a Frequency Divider Chain for 77 GHz Applications , 2006, 2006 European Microwave Integrated Circuits Conference.

[29]  A. Babakhani,et al.  A 77-GHz Phased-Array Transceiver With On-Chip Antennas in Silicon: Transmitter and Local LO-Path Phase Shifting , 2006, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[30]  G.M. Rebeiz,et al.  A 77 GHz SiGe sub-harmonic balanced mixer , 2005, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[31]  Li Wang,et al.  An Improved Highly-Linear Low-Power Down-Conversion Micromixer for 77 GHz Automotive Radar in SiGe Technology , 2006, 2006 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest.

[32]  R. Reuter,et al.  A 77 GHz (W-band) SiGe LNA with a 6.2 dB Noise Figure and Gain Adjustable to 33 dB , 2006, 2006 Bipolar/BiCMOS Circuits and Technology Meeting.

[33]  Sorin P. Voinigescu,et al.  Towards a sub-2.5V, 100-Gb/s Serial Transceiver , 2007, 2007 IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference.

[34]  D. Celi,et al.  230-GHz self-aligned SiGeC HBT for optical and millimeter-wave applications , 2005, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.