Millimeter-wave ICs in advanced SiGe:C BiCMOS technologies for transmitter modules

Abstract

The advancements of the silicon technologies have enabled a vast array of applications at millimeter-wave frequencies, replacing GaAs in many of them. Among them, advanced Si/SiGe BiCMOS technologies stand out through their ability to offer on-chip complexity. Aside from npn HBTs, CMOS components enable on-chip digital control offering significant advantages at the system level. Moreover, their multilevel metallizations offers tremendous flexibility in the design of compact passive circuit components. Therefore they prove to be the technology of choice for dense phased array antenna applications. However, with increasing frequency the wavelength reduction posses significant constraints in terms of size and power consumption. In this work the design of two key blocks part of a transmitter chain intended to be part of a phased array system is discussed. First, several implementation examples in the case of a power amplifiers are presented. They operate in the Ka and W bands showing good performance while consuming an extremely small area. Finally, employing techniques from analog design at much lower frequency, several functions (driver, balun, Single Pole Double Throw switch) were combined into a single circuit block leading to a highly compact solution with a low power consumption.