access icon free 69–78 GHz ESD-protected SiGe BiCMOS PA with 30 dB automatic level control for mm-wave 5G applications

A silicon–germanium BiCMOS E-band power amplifier (PA) for millimetre-waves for Gbit/s data rates in fifth-generation cellular wireless backhaul networks is presented. A 69–78 GHz transmission-line PA is demonstrated by integrating an electrostatic discharge (ESD) and a power detector together. To save this area, a transmission-line-based power coupler is shared by the ESD and the power detector. The ESD achieves an insertion loss of <1.5 dB in the frequency range of 17–100 GHz. The linear-in-dB output characteristic of the power detector is achieved by an exponential voltage convertor. The designed PA measured a maximum gain of 18.6 dB with 3 dB bandwidth of 68.9–78.7 GHz. The input return loss is better than −10 dB from 50 to 81 GHz. It delivers 10 dBm saturated output power at 73.4 GHz. Transmission line pulsing (TLP) measurement result shows that the voltage is clamped below 6 V even under 10 A ESD current.

Inspec keywords: Ge-Si alloys; integrated circuit design; MMIC power amplifiers; BiCMOS analogue integrated circuits; millimetre wave couplers; field effect MMIC; MMIC frequency convertors; field effect MIMIC; electrostatic discharge; millimetre wave power amplifiers; millimetre wave frequency convertors; transmission lines; cellular radio; millimetre wave detectors; semiconductor materials

Other keywords: ESD current; ESD-protected BiCMOS PA; silicon–germanium BiCMOS E-band power amplifier; voltage 6.0 V; mm-wave 5G applications; current 10.0 A; power detector; input return loss; data rates; transmission-line-based power coupler; transmission-line PA; linear-in-dB output characteristic; SiGe; frequency 17.0 GHz to 100.0 GHz; millimetre-waves; exponential voltage convertor; insertion loss; automatic level control; fifth-generation cellular wireless backhaul networks

Subjects: Waveguide and microwave transmission line components; Analogue circuit design, modelling and testing; Semiconductor integrated circuit design, layout, modelling and testing; Amplifiers; Mobile radio systems; Convertors; Sensing devices and transducers; Electrostatics; Mixed technology integrated circuits; Microwave integrated circuits

http://iet.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1049/el.2018.6575
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content/journals/10.1049/el.2018.6575
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Correspondence
This article has following corresponding article(s):
mm-wave power control