Publications 2024

Script list Publications

(1) Design and Characterization of a Variable Gain D-Band LNA for Optimized Link Budgeting for a 6G Receiver in 22FDX
P.J. Artz, Q.H. Le, D.K. Huynh, P. Scholz, T. Kämpfe, S. Lehmann, T. Mausolf, F. Gerfers
IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques 72(2), 1008 (2024)
DOI: 10.1109/TMTT.2023.3298197
This article describes the design and characterization of a fully differential D -band low noise amplifier (LNA) with a measured gain of 9.0–18.0 dB at 153.5 GHz over a 3-dB bandwidth of 10.8 GHz. A minimum noise figure (NF) of 7.9 dB is achieved, measured with the cold-noise source method using a source tuner for noise parameter extraction to enable high accurate NF measurements. The extracted noise parameters allow the source impedance sensitivity to be calculated, with an NF degradation of less than 1.2 dB demonstrated for a source reflection |Γs|≤0.3 . Using the back gate control of the 22-nm fully depleted silicon on insulator (FDSOI) technology enables a passive gain control range of 9 dB, reducing the NF and compression point degradation while scaling the power consumption, thanks to optimal transistor biasing. The measured LNA parameters such as gain, NF, compression, and bandwidth are applied in a link budget analyzer to verify sufficient signal-to-noise and distortion ratio (SNDR) for a 100-GBit/s receiver.

(2) The Chip-Level in-Plane Stress Distribution over BiCMOS Wafers
Z. Cao, T. Voss, M. Wietstruck, C. Carta, M. Kaynak
Proc. 24th IEEE Topical Meeting on Silicon Monolithic Integrated Circuits in RF Systems (SiRF 2024), 45 (2024)
DOI: 10.1109/SiRF59913.2024.10438504, (FLEXCOM)

(3) A 240-GHz VMPS with 1.2° and 0.35 dB RMS Errors in 130 nm BiCMOS:C Technology
M.H. Eissa, Ch. Wipf, A. Malignaggi, G. Kahmen
IEEE Microwave and Wireless Technology Letters (MWTL) 34(3), 295 (2024)
DOI: 10.1109/LMWT.2024.3357203
This work presents a low phase error (PE) and amplitude error (AE) vector modulator phase shifter (VMPS) in the J -band. The influence of the IQ crosstalk RF impairment on the performance is analyzed for different vector summation implementations, guiding to the VMPS architecture choice and design optimization. The chosen architecture consists of an IQ analog-controlled voltage-gain amplifier (IQ-VGA), Branchline coupler, and a Wilkinson combiner. Test structures for the variable-gain amplifier (VGA) and the VMPS are manufactured and measured in a 130-nm BiCMOS technology ( f T / f max = 300/500 GHz). For the phase resolution of 11.25°, the VMPS achieves an average rms PE and AE of 1.2° and 0.35 dB, respectively, with equivalent to 5.5 -bits control voltage across the frequency band 220–260 GHz. The VMPS consumes 60 mW from 2.5-V supply and occupies 0.2 mm 2 of silicon area. This work presents the least PE and AE across a wide bandwidth for VMPS in silicon technologies above 200 GHz, which is crucial for large-scale beam-steering arrays.

(4) Realizing Joint Communication and Sensing RF Receiver Front-Ends: A Survey
S. George, P. Sen, C. Carta
IEEE Access 12, 9440 (2024)
DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3351572
Joint Communication and radio Sensing (JC&S) has gained significant attention over the past few years. The advantages of this technology include reduced cost, size and power consumption. With further advancements in JC&S systems, it can potentially be used in next-generation cellular networks, internet-of-things and upcoming applications such as Industry 4.0, where a single system is capable of performing a wide variety of functions or tasks. The inclusion of this technology will result in improved performance and safety of the systems. Even though communication and radio sensing make use of a similar Radio Frequency (RF) front-end, the specifications for both these technologies mainly differ in terms of bandwidth and linearity. In this survey, a detailed study of the specifications of radar and communication was conducted. For the RF front-end to operate efficiently in both radar and communication modes, there must be reconfigurability in terms of frequency, bandwidth, gain and linearity. In this survey, we investigated different frequency, bandwidth, gain and linearity reconfigurable low noise amplifier (LNA) and down-conversion mixer architectures. The merits and demerits of each architecture are discussed and a summary of the performance of the reconfigurable LNAs and down-conversion mixers in the literature is presented. Finally, possible topologies for JC&S are deduced based on their performance.

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