A Millimeter-Wave Coexistent RFIC Receiver Architecture in 0.18-µm SiGe BiCMOS for Radar and Communication Systems

Innovative circuit architectures and techniques to enhance the performance of several key BiCMOS RFIC building blocks applied in radar and wireless communication systems operating at the millimeter-wave frequencies are addressed in this dissertation. The former encapsulates the development of an advanced, low-cost and miniature millimeter-wave coexistent current mode direct conversion receiver for short-range, high-resolution radar and high data rate communication systems. A new class of broadband low power consumption active balun-LNA consisting of two common emitters amplifiers mutually coupled thru an AC stacked transformer for power saving and gain boosting. The active balun-LNA exhibits new high linearity technique using a constant gm cell transconductance independent of input-outputs variations based on equal emitters’ area ratios. A novel multi-stages active balun-LNA with innovative technique to mitigate amplitude and phase imbalances is proposed. The new multi-stages balun-LNA technique consists of distributed feed-forward averaging recycles correction for amplitude and phase errors and is insensitive to unequal paths parasitic from input to outputs. The distributed averaging recycles correction technique resolves the amplitude and phase errors residuals in a multi-iterative process. The new multi-stages balun-LNA averaging correction technique is frequency independent and can perform amplitude and phase calibrations without relying on passive lumped elements for compensation. The multi-stage balun-LNA exhibits excellent performance from 10 to 50 GHz with amplitude and phase mismatches less than 0.7 dB and 2.86º, respectively. Furthermore, the new multi-stages balun-LNA operates in current mode and shows high linearity with low power consumption. The unique balun-LNA design can operates well into mm-wave regions and is an integral block of the mm-wave radar and communication systems. The integration of several RFIC blocks constitutes the broadband millimeter-wave coexistent current mode direct conversion receiver architecture operating from 22- 44 GHz. The system and architectural level analysis provide a unique understanding into the receiver characteristics and design trade-offs. The RF front-end is based on the broadband multi-stages active balun-LNA coupled into a fully balanced passive mixer with an all-pass in-phase/quadrature phase generator. The trans-impedance amplifier converts the input signal current into a voltage gain at the outputs. Simultaneously, the high power input signal current is channelized into an anti-aliasing filter with 20 dB rejection for out of band interferers. In addition, the dissertation demonstrates a wide dynamic range system with small die area, cost effective and very low power consumption

A Millimeter-Wave Coexistent RFIC Receiver Architecture in 0.18-µm SiGe BiCMOS for Radar and Communication Systems

Innovative circuit architectures and techniques to enhance the performance of several key BiCMOS RFIC building blocks applied in radar and wireless communication systems operating at the millimeter-wave frequencies are addressed in this dissertation. The former encapsulates the development of an advanced, low-cost and miniature millimeter-wave coexistent current mode direct conversion receiver for short-range, high-resolution radar and high data rate communication systems. A new class of broadband low power consumption active balun-LNA consisting of two common emitters amplifiers mutually coupled thru an AC stacked transformer for power saving and gain boosting. The active balun-LNA exhibits new high linearity technique using a constant gm cell transconductance independent of input-outputs variations based on equal emitters’ area ratios. A novel multi-stages active balun-LNA with innovative technique to mitigate amplitude and phase imbalances is proposed. The new multi-stages balun-LNA technique consists of distributed feed-forward averaging recycles correction for amplitude and phase errors and is insensitive to unequal paths parasitic from input to outputs. The distributed averaging recycles correction technique resolves the amplitude and phase errors residuals in a multi-iterative process. The new multi-stages balun-LNA averaging correction technique is frequency independent and can perform amplitude and phase calibrations without relying on passive lumped elements for compensation. The multi-stage balun-LNA exhibits excellent performance from 10 to 50 GHz with amplitude and phase mismatches less than 0.7 dB and 2.86º, respectively. Furthermore, the new multi-stages balun-LNA operates in current mode and shows high linearity with low power consumption. The unique balun-LNA design can operates well into mm-wave regions and is an integral block of the mm-wave radar and communication systems. The integration of several RFIC blocks constitutes the broadband millimeter-wave coexistent current mode direct conversion receiver architecture operating from 22- 44 GHz. The system and architectural level analysis provide a unique understanding into the receiver characteristics and design trade-offs. The RF front-end is based on the broadband multi-stages active balun-LNA coupled into a fully balanced passive mixer with an all-pass in-phase/quadrature phase generator. The trans-impedance amplifier converts the input signal current into a voltage gain at the outputs. Simultaneously, the high power input signal current is channelized into an anti-aliasing filter with 20 dB rejection for out of band interferers. In addition, the dissertation demonstrates a wide dynamic range system with small die area, cost effective and very low power consumption

Realization Limits of Impulse-Radio UWB Indoor Localization Systems

In this work, the realization limits of an impulse-based Ultra-Wideband (UWB) localization system for indoor applications have been thoroughly investigated and verified by measurements. The analysis spans from the position calculation algorithms, through hardware realization and modeling, up to the localization experiments conducted in realistic scenarios. The main focus was put on identification and characterization of limiting factors as well as developing methods to overcome them

Design methods for 60GHz beamformers in CMOS

The 60GHz band is promising for applications such as high-speed short-range wireless personal-area network (WPAN), real-time video streaming at rates of several-Gbps, automotive radar, and mm-Wave imaging, since it provides a large amount of bandwidth that can freely (i.e. without a license) be used worldwide. However, transceivers at 60GHz pose several additional challenges over microwave transceivers. In addition to the circuit design challenges of implementing high performance 60GHz RF circuits in mainstream CMOS technology, the path loss at 60GHz is significantly higher than at microwave frequencies because of the smaller size of isotropic antennas. This can be overcome by using phased array technology. This thesis studies the new concepts and design techniques that can be used for 60GHz phased array systems. It starts with an overview of various applications at mm-wave frequencies, such as multi-Gbps radio at 60GHz, automotive radar and millimeter-wave imaging. System considerations of mm-wave receivers and transmitters are discussed, followed by the selection of a CMOS technology to implement millimeter-wave (60GHz) systems. The link budget of a 60GHz WPAN is analyzed, which leads to the introduction of phased array techniques to improve system performance. Different phased array architectures are studied and compared. The system requirements of phase shifters are discussed. Several types of conventional RF phase shifters are reviewed. A 60GHz 4-bit passive phase shifter is designed and implemented in a 65nm CMOS technology. Measurement results are presented and compared to published prior art. A 60GHz 4-bit active phase shifter is designed and integrated with low noise amplifier and combiner for a phased array receiver. This is implemented in a 65nm CMOS technology, and the measurement results are presented. The design of a 60GHz 4-bit active phase shifter and its integration with power amplifier is also presented for a phased array transmitter. This is implemented in a 65nm CMOS technology. The measurement results are also presented and compared to reported prior art. The integration of a 60GHz CMOS amplifier and an antenna in a printed circuit-board (PCB) package is investigated. Experimental results are presented and discussed

ON FUNDAMENTAL OPERATING PRINCIPLES AND RANGE-DOPPLER ESTIMATION IN MONOLITHIC FREQUENCY-MODULATED CONTINUOUS-WAVE RADAR SENSORS

The diverse application areas of emerging monolithic noncontactradar sensors that are able to measure object’s distance and velocity is expected to grow in the near future to scales that are now nearly inconceivable. A classical concept of frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) radar, tailored to operate in the millimeter-wave (mm-wave) band, is well-suited to be implemented in the baseline CMOS or BiCMOS process technologies. High volume production could radically cut the cost and decrease the form factorof such sensing devices thus enabling their omnipresence in virtually every field. This introductory paper explains the key concepts of mm-wave sensing starting from a chirp as an essential signal in linear FMCW radars. It further sketches the fundamental operating principles and block structure of contemporary fully integrated homodyne FMCW radars. Crucial radar parameters like the maximum unambiguously measurable distance and speed, as well as rangeand velocity resolutions are specified and derived. The importance of both beat tones in the intermediate frequency (IF) signal and the phase in resolving small spatial perturbations and obtaining the 2-D range-Doppler plot is pointed out. Radar system-level trade-offs and chirp/frame design strategies are explained. Finally, the nonideal and second-order effects are commented and the examples of practical FMCW transmitter and receiver implementations are summarized