A 220-GHz Sliding-IF Quadrature Transmitter and Receiver Chipset for High Data Rate Communication in 0.13-µm SiGe BiCMOS

• Published in: IEEE journal of solid-state circuits 2023-07, Vol.58 (7), p.1913-1927
• Main Authors: Li, Zekun, Chen, Jixin, Li, Huanbo, Yu, Jiayang, Lu, Yuxiang, Zhou, Rui, Chen, Zhe, Hong, Wei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amplification; Bandwidths; Bipolar transistors; Chips (electronics); CMOS; Directivity; High gain; Intermediate frequencies; Low noise; Mixers; Noise reduction; Power amplifiers; Power consumption; Power management; Power splitters; Quadrature amplitude modulation; Quadratures; Semiconductors; Silicon germanides; Single sideband transmission; Sliding; Slot antennas; Topology; Transistors
• ISSN: 0018-9200; 1558-173X
• DOI: 10.1109/JSSC.2023.3236621

This article presents a fully integrated 220 GHz sliding-intermediate frequency (sliding-IF) quadrature transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) chipset supporting high-order modulation schemes in a 0.13-[Formula Omitted] SiGe bipolar junction transistor and the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor (BiCMOS) technology with [Formula Omitted] GHz. For supporting the sliding-IF scheme, a 55-GHz frequency tripler, a low-loss miniature power splitter, and a 165-GHz high-efficiency frequency tripler are employed for the local oscillator (LO) generator of the transceiver (TRx). By using the sliding-IF architecture, the power consumption of the LO generator in the sub-terahertz (sub-THz) band is effectively reduced. The proposed miniature power splitter occupies a small area, which is flexible for Tx and Rx layout arrangements. In the Tx part, a 220-GHz high-gain, high-linearity power amplifier (PA) is employed to enhance the conversion gain (CG) and output power of the Tx. Two up-conversion mixers are introduced for double conversion in sliding-IF architecture. The Tx exhibits 42-GHz RF bandwidth, 38-dB CG, and 8.5-dBm saturated output power ([Formula Omitted]). On the Rx side, a 220-GHz low noise amplifier (LNA) with a noise-reduction technique is employed to reduce the noise figure (NF) of the Rx. A double-conversion Gilbert-like topology is proposed for the down-conversion mixer which saves power consumption and reduces the NF. A baseband amplifier (BBA) follows the down-conversion mixer to improve the dynamic range. The Rx exhibits 31-GHz RF bandwidth, 48-dB CG with 25-dB gain control, and 11-dB single sideband (SSB) NF. Furthermore, on-chip slot antennas are adopted in the Tx and Rx to reduce the losses introduced by the interconnection between off-chip antennas and RF front-end devices. The antenna combined with a 20-mm radius silicon lens provides high directivity. Wireless transmission experiments demonstrate 11.2/2.4 Gbps data rates with 16-QAM/64-QAM modulation scheme over 0.2 m. The Tx and Rx consume around 640 and 495 mW, respectively.