4x1 Mimo compact half duplex RF T/R module with high resolution in 130 NM sige bicmos for 5G applications/

Official URL: https://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b2579251_(Table of contents)

This thesis focuses on the design and implementation of a radio frequency (RF) integrated transmit/receive (T/R) module for the next-generation 5G communication. To achieve the performance requirements of the 5G communication, such as high data rate and low latency, new design methodologies are needed such as multipleinput and multiple-output (MIMO), and millimeter-wave (mm-wave) based circuits. Moreover, low power dissipation and low area are also essential performance requirements for the next-generation communication to decrease the cost of the system. One of the requirements of 5G is a data rate up to 25 Gb/s. In order to meet this requirement, the bandwidth of communication must be increased, which is possible with mm-wave circuitry. However, a higher attenuation in the atmosphere occurs in mm-wave frequency. In order to compensate for this attenuation, MIMO half-duplex phased arrays can be realized to create a beam-steering with a desired gain. This thesis presents four-element TX/RX circuits and a single-channel TRX for creating a beamformer for MIMO-based systems. Both ICs designed with SiGe BiCMOS technology for 5G applications specifically for 26 GHz. First, four-element TX and RX channels are realized to create a 5G communication scheme at the mm-wave frequencies. These four-channel elements are based on sub-blocks: low noise amplifier (LNA), power amplifier (PA), phase shifter (PS), attenuator (ATT), variable gain amplifier (VGA), Wilkinson combiner, and serial peripheral interface (SPI). The designed circuitry achieved a 6-b phase control and 4-b amplitude control. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the designed module achieved the highest phase and amplitude resolution, along with the highest amplitude range, and the lowest RMS amplitude error in the literature. Moreover, the designed module achieved 15.5 dB RX gain, 25.5 dB TX gain, 4.5 dB NF, 9.5 dBm OP1dB, and 50 mW power consumption which are acceptable performances with respect to the state-of-the-art. Second, after realizing the four-element TX and RX channels, we realized that parameters such as, power consumption and area can be improved. These improvements will create a massive advantage while creating a phased array system. Also, we realized that we can increase the module’s functionality by increasing the phase and amplitude resolution and adding a self built-in test to check whether the channel is working or not. Single-channel TRX is implemented with higher phase and amplitude resolution and lower chip area and power consumption. To achieve the aforementioned performance, two new techniques were performed. First, to decide the mode of operation, conventional switch topology, asymmetric switches, and switchless LNA and PA are realized. Second, phase and amplitude will be adjusted with a single block for the first time. The current steering technique will be used for both phase and amplitude resolution in a single block. Since the asymmetric switch and switchless topology consume less area with lower insertion-loss performances and the vector modulator performs the phase and amplitude settings with the single block, the area and the power consumption of the overall module will be reduced. Based on the measurement results, the designed circuitry achieved 7-bit phase and 6-bit amplitude resolution, which corresponds to the highest phase and amplitude resolution in the literature. While achieving the highest phase and amplitude resolution, the lowest RMS phase and amplitude error are also achieved with a single block. Moreover, the designed circuitry achieved 19 dB gain in RX mode, 20 dB gain in TX mode, 5 dB NF, and 11.5 dBm OP1dB are also achieved, which are enough to create a 5G communication scheme.