A V-band 90-nm CMOS low-noise amplifier with modified CPW transmission lines for UWB systems

A V-band low-noise, high gain, high linearity single-stage amplifier has been developed in a 90-nm CMOS technology. The design utilized modified co-planar waveguide transmission lines for the input/output matching networks, to avoid lines' width and spacing constraints and to sustain small chip area and low cost fabrication. The developed amplifier exhibited a low noise figure of 4.1 dB, and a gain higher than 10 dB in the frequency range of 57–58 GHz. Additionally, the amplifier has linear characteristics and its measured third-order intercept (IIP3) point is greater than 3 dBm. The proposed design is well suited for millimeter-wave (mmW) front-ends in ultra-wideband (UWB) radio-over-fiber (RoF) systems for high data-rate communications.

[1]  J. Yook,et al.  Elevated-CPW for high-speed digital interconnects , 2001, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium. 2001 Digest. Held in conjunction with: USNC/URSI National Radio Science Meeting (Cat. No.01CH37229).

[2]  Bob O'Hara,et al.  The IEEE 802.11 Handbook: A Designer's Companion , 1999 .

[3]  P. Schvan,et al.  Algorithmic Design of CMOS LNAs and PAs for 60-GHz Radio , 2007, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[4]  Hamed S. Al-Raweshidy,et al.  Radio Over Fiber Technologies for Mobile Communications Networks , 2002 .

[5]  H. Kamitsuna.  A very small, low-loss MMIC rat-race hybrid using elevated coplanar waveguides , 1992, IEEE Microwave and Guided Wave Letters.

[6]  Ali M. Niknejad,et al.  Low-Power mm-Wave Components up to 104GHz in 90nm CMOS , 2007, 2007 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference. Digest of Technical Papers.

[7]  P.F.M. Smulders,et al.  Exploiting the 60 GHz band for local wireless multimedia access: prospects and future directions , 2002, IEEE Commun. Mag..

[8]  T. Kuri,et al.  60-GHz-band full-duplex radio-on-fiber system using two-RF-port electroabsorption transceiver , 2000, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[9]  D. Ritter,et al.  An ultra low power LNA with 15dB gain and 4.4db NF in 90nm CMOS process for 60 GHz phase array radio , 2008, 2008 IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Symposium.

[10]  K. Soumyanath,et al.  A 64 GHz LNA With 15.5 dB Gain and 6.5 dB NF in 90 nm CMOS , 2008, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[11]  I. Wolff,et al.  New coplanar-like transmission lines for application in monolithic integrated millimeter-wave and submillimeter-wave circuits , 1998, 1998 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest (Cat. No.98CH36192).

[12]  R. Simons.  Coplanar waveguide circuits, components, and systems , 2001 .