A 160-GHz system in package for short-range mm-wave applications

• Published in: International journal of microwave and wireless technologies 2014-06, Vol.6 (3-4), p.361-369
• Main Authors: Hamidipour, Abouzar, Feger, Reinhard, Poltschak, Sebastian, Stelzer, Andreas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Research Paper
• ISSN: 1759-0787; 1759-0795
• DOI: 10.1017/S1759078714000270

This paper proposes a fully integrated 160-GHz transmitter and receiver in package for millimeter-wave applications. The monolithic integrated circuits were designed with a harmonic approach and were fabricated using a SiGe:C HBT production technology with an fT and fmax of 170 and 250 GHz, respectively. The manufactured 2006 × 1865 µm2 bare dies were integrated in 6 × 6 mm2 embedded wafer level ball grid array packages, where they were interconnected with highly directional antennas built on the redistribution layer of the packages. With a total frequency multiplication factor of 36 and an active balun at the first stage, the transmitter allows the use of a 4.5-GHz input signal driven from a single-ended signal source [1] and distributed on a standard low-cost printed circuit board. The receiver comprises a Gilbert-cell-based subharmonic mixer with a simulated 1-dB input compression point of −4 dBm, and a minimum double-sideband noise figure of 16.5 dB. The functionality of the proposed system was successfully demonstrated in a quasi-monostatic FMCW radar measurement with a 1-ms up-chirp frequency sweep from 157 to 160 GHz and in a forward-scatter imaging experiment with an 8-GHz frequency ramp from 157 to 165 GHz.