69–78 GHz ESD‐protected SiGe BiCMOS PA with 30 dB automatic level control for mm‐wave 5G applications. Issue 22 (1st November 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, Keping; Qiu, Lei; Wang, Zhigong
• Is Part Of: Electronics letters. Volume 54:Issue 22(2018)
• Page Start: 1286
• Page End: 1288
• Publication Date: 2018-11-01
• Subjects: field effect MIMIC -- cellular radio -- electrostatic discharge -- millimetre wave power amplifiers -- BiCMOS analogue integrated circuits -- integrated circuit design -- Ge‐Si alloys -- semiconductor materials -- field effect MMIC -- MMIC power amplifiers -- millimetre wave detectors -- millimetre wave couplers -- MMIC frequency convertors -- millimetre wave frequency convertors -- transmission lines; ESD current -- mm‐wave 5G applications -- silicon–germanium BiCMOS E‐band power amplifier -- millimetre‐waves -- data rates -- fifth‐generation cellular wireless backhaul networks -- power detector -- transmission‐line‐based power coupler -- linear‐in‐dB output characteristic -- automatic level control -- ESD‐protected BiCMOS PA -- transmission‐line PA -- insertion loss -- exponential voltage convertor -- input return loss -- voltage 6.0 V -- current 10.0 A -- frequency 17.0 GHz to 100.0 GHz -- SiGe; Electronics -- Periodicals; 621.381
• DOI: 10.1049/el.2018.6575
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0013-5194

Abstract

Abstract : 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.