State-of-the-Art of Millimeter-Wave Silicon Technology

Description

This book examines the critical differences between current and next-generation Si technologies (CMOS, BiCMOS and SiC) and technology platforms (e.g. system-on-chip) in mm-wave wireless applications. We provide a basic overview of the two technologies from a technical standpoint, followed by a review of the state-of-the-art of several key building blocks in wireless systems. The influences of system requirements on the choice of semiconductor technology are vital to understanding the merits of CMOS and BiCMOS devices – e.g., output power, battery life, adjacent channel interference, cost restrictions, and so forth. These requirements, in turn, affect component-level design and performance metrics of oscillators, mixers, power and low-noise amplifiers, as well as phase-locked loops and data converters. Finally, the book offers a peek into the next generation of wireless technologies such as THz -band systems and future 6G applications. Contents 1 Evolution of Millimeter-Wave Silicon Technology 1.1 Millimeter-Wave Wireless Communications 1.1.1 Regulatory Challenges and Spectrum Allocation 1.1.2 Semiconductor Requirements by Application Area 1.2 Millimeter-Wave Technology Overview 1.2.1 CMOS versus BiCMOS Introductory Comparison 1.2.2 State-of-the-Art Semiconductor Technologies 1.2.3 Summary of Semiconductor Technology Options References 2 Millimeter-Wave Silicon Passive Components 2.1 Challenges with Implementing Silicon Passives 2.1.1 Ground Plane Requirements 2.1.2 Implementing Ground Planes in Silicon MMICs 2.1.3 Lossy Substrates and Narrow Transmission Lines 2.2 Transmission Lines 2.2.1 Inductive and Capacitive Quality Factors 2.2.2 Microstrip and Coplanar Waveguide Transmission Lines 2.3 Resistors 2.4 Diodes 2.4.1 Schottky Barrier Diodes 2.4.2 PIN Diodes 2.4.3 Varactor Diodes 2.5 Capacitors 2.6 Inductors 2.6.1 Mm-wave Design Considerations 2.6.2 Planar and 3-D Spiral Inductors 2.6.3 Active Inductors 2.6.4 Inductor Design Kits 2.7 Through-Silicon Vias 2.8 Conclusion References 3 Active Millimeter-Wave Silicon Devices 3.1 Bipolar Transistors 3.1.1 Small-Signal Equivalent Circuit 3.1.2 Integrated BJTs 3.1.3 Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors 3.2 MOS Transistors 3.2.1 Small-Signal Equivalent Circuit 3.2.2 Millimeter-Wave Operation 3.2.3 Layout Effects 3.3 Compact Modelling 3.3.1 HBT Models 3.3.2 FET Models 3.4 Process Corner Modelling 3.5 Conclusion References 4 Passive Circuits and Building Blocks in Millimeter-Wave Silicon 4.1 Matching Circuits and Impedance Transformation 4.1.1 Matching Network Losses 4.2 Power Combiners and Directional Couplers 4.2.1 Power Combining Performance Metrics 4.2.2 Mm-Wave Combiner Challenges 4.2.3 T-Junction Dividers 4.2.4 Wilkinson Dividers 4.2.5 Capacitive Combiners 4.2.6 Combiner Applications 4.2.7 Quadrature Hybrid Couplers 4.2.8 Coupler Applications 4.3 Filters 4.3.1 State-of-the-Art Bandpass Filters 4.3.2 Silicon Integrated Passive Device Filters 4.3.3 Broadside-Coupled Resonator BPF References 5 Solid-State Millimeter-Wave Silicon Amplifiers 5.1 Amplifier Specifications 5.1.1 Gain and Stability 5.1.2 Linearity 5.1.3 Bandwidth 5.1.4 Efficiency 5.1.5 Noise 5.2 Amplifier Classification 5.3 Low-Noise Amplifiers 5.3.1 Millimeter-Wave Design Techniques 5.3.2 LNA Operating Characteristics 5.3.3 State-of-the-Art Silicon LNAs 5.4 Power Amplifiers 5.4.1 Millimeter-Wave PA Design Considerations 5.4.2 State-of-the-Art Silicon PAs 5.4.3 Conclusions and Discussion References 6 Frequency Synthesis and Conversion Circuits in Millimeter-Wave Silicon 6.1 Oscillators 6.1.1 Oscillator Performance Metrics 6.1.2 Basic Oscillator Operating Principles 6.1.3 Oscillator Architectures 6.2 Mixers 6.2.1 Basic Mixer Operating Principles 6.2.2 Mixer Architectures 6.2.3 Mm-wave Mixer Design References 7 High-Performance Si Data Converters for Millimeter-Wave Transceivers 7.1 A/D Converters 7.1.1 Architectures 7.1.2 Mm-Wave A/D Converters 7.2 D/A Converters 7.2.1 Operating Principles 7.2.2 Architectures 7.2.3 Mm-wave D/A Converters 7.3 Conclusion References 8 State-of-the-Art Millimeter-Wave Silicon Transceivers and Systems-on-Chip 8.1 Radar and Remote Sensing SoCs 8.1.1 Automotive Radar 8.1.2 Imaging 8.2 Wireless Communications 8.2.1 IEEE 802.11ad/ay WiGig 8.2.2 5G Mobile Communications 8.3 6G and Future Mm-Wave Systems 8.3.1 Evolution from 5 to 6G 8.3.2 THz-Band Communication 8.3.3 THZ Devices References