D-Band RX Front-End With a 0°-360° Phase Shifter Based on Programmable Passive Networks in SiGe-BiCMOS

• Published in: IEEE transactions on microwave theory and techniques 2024-11, Vol.72 (11), p.6205-6215
• Main Authors: De Filippi, Guglielmo, Piotto, Lorenzo, Pirbazari, Mahmoud M., Mazzanti, Andrea
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bandwidth; BiCMOS; Dynamic range; Emitters; front-end; Gain; Insertion loss; Linearity; low-noise amplifier (LNA); Millimeter waves; Passive networks; Phase shift; phase shifter (PS); Phase shifters; phased array; Phased arrays; Power consumption; Power demand; Power management; Sensor arrays; SiGe; Wireless communication; Wireless networks
• ISSN: 0018-9480; 1557-9670
• DOI: 10.1109/TMTT.2024.3395899

Active phased arrays are key enablers for high-capacity wireless links and imaging sensors at millimeter wave, but require advanced front-end circuits. On the receiver side, the front-end comprises a low-noise amplifier (LNA) followed by a programmable phase shifter (PS), required to adjust the phase of each channel before performing the coherent summation of the signals captured by different antenna elements. In D-band, conventional PSs based on the vector interpolation principle limit the dynamic range with a noise or linearity penalty due to transistors operating close to f {_{\max }} , in currently available silicon technologies. This work presents a front-end where the variable phase shift is achieved using passive structures, with a noise figure equal to the insertion loss (IL) but inherently linear. Different passive networks providing a programmable phase shift in fine and coarse steps are developed and interleaved with active gain stages to build a 0°-360° PS. Cascode structures are used as gain stages, in the PS and in the preceding LNA, and reactive feedback is introduced around the common-emitter (CE) device to boost the gain. A D-band receiver front-end is implemented in BiCMOS 55-nm technology. With a power consumption of 80mW from a 2V supply, measurements prove 20 dB average gain, 130-170GHz operating frequency with 0°-360° phase shift control, and average NF and OP1dB of 7 dB and −2dBm, respectively. Normalizing the dynamic range to power consumption, the achieved results compare favorably against state-of-the-art.