This article presents practical design considerations and methodologies for a 28-GHz front-end module (FEM) in 22-nm fully depleted silicon on insulator (FD-SOI) CMOS technology for the fifth generation (5G) wireless communication. The design adopts a gain-boosting technique that is comprehensively analyzed with a transformer-based stacked-FET power amplifier (PA). Then, the co-design of the transmit/receive (T/R) switch with the PA and low-noise amplifier (LNA) is investigated, and an electrostatic-discharge (ESD)-aware T/R switch incorporating PA circuitry is proposed to leverage the Tx- and Rx-mode performance. Moreover, the robustness of standalone PA and Tx-mode FEM is simulated and experimentally verified. Furthermore, the ground return paths and supply parasitic paths of the adopted single-ended LNA together with the proposed T/R switch are studied, properly simulated, and assessed. Finally, the proposed PA topology is first verified standalone, exhibiting 32-dB power gain (Gp), an 18.2-dBm output 1-dB compression point (OP1 dB), and a 31.1&#x0025 power-added efficiency (PAE) at OP1 dB (PAE1 dB). Using this PA in the FEM yields a Tx-mode OP1 dB/PAE1 dB of 16 dBm/19.4&#x0025, and an average output power (Poutavg)/PAE of 10.1 dBm/8.3&#x0025 for a 100-MHz bandwidth 256-QAM single-carrier signal at an error-vector magnitude (EVM) of -30 dB. In the Rx mode, noise figure (NF) and input-referred third-order intercept point (IIP3) are 3.2 and -5.4 dBm, respectively. A 2-kV human-body model (HBM) ESD protection of the FEM is predicted in transient simulations and measured with transmission line pulse (TLP) tests.
Tang, X , Liu, Y, Mangraviti, G, Zong, Z, Khalaf, K, Zhang, Y, Wu, W-M, Chen, S-H, Debaillie, B & Wambacq, P 2021, ' Design and Analysis of a 28 GHz T/R Front-End Module in 22-nm FD-SOI CMOS Technology ', IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques , vol. 69, no. 6, 9366313, pp. 2841-2853.
Tang, X. , Liu, Y., Mangraviti, G., Zong, Z., Khalaf, K., Zhang, Y., Wu, W-M., Chen, S-H., Debaillie, B. , & Wambacq, P. (2021). Design and Analysis of a 28 GHz T/R Front-End Module in 22-nm FD-SOI CMOS Technology . IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques , 69 (6), 2841-2853. [9366313].
@article{c4eabd9e29664b57aef0d11e19295ba0,
title = " Design and Analysis of a 28 GHz T/R Front-End Module in 22-nm FD-SOI CMOS Technology " ,
abstract = " This article presents practical design considerations and methodologies for a 28-GHz front-end module (FEM) in 22-nm fully depleted silicon on insulator (FD-SOI) CMOS technology for the fifth generation (5G) wireless communication. The design adopts a gain-boosting technique that is comprehensively analyzed with a transformer-based stacked-FET power amplifier (PA). Then, the co-design of the transmit/receive (T/R) switch with the PA and low-noise amplifier (LNA) is investigated, and an electrostatic-discharge (ESD)-aware T/R switch incorporating PA circuitry is proposed to leverage the Tx- and Rx-mode performance. Moreover, the robustness of standalone PA and Tx-mode FEM is simulated and experimentally verified. Furthermore, the ground return paths and supply parasitic paths of the adopted single-ended LNA together with the proposed T/R switch are studied, properly simulated, and assessed. Finally, the proposed PA topology is first verified standalone, exhibiting 32-dB power gain (Gp), an 18.2-dBm output 1-dB compression point (OP1 dB), and a 31.1% power-added efficiency (PAE) at OP1 dB (PAE1 dB). Using this PA in the FEM yields a Tx-mode OP1 dB/PAE1 dB of 16 dBm/19.4%, and an average output power (Poutavg)/PAE of 10.1 dBm/8.3% for a 100-MHz bandwidth 256-QAM single-carrier signal at an error-vector magnitude (EVM) of -30 dB. In the Rx mode, noise figure (NF) and input-referred third-order intercept point (IIP3) are 3.2 and -5.4 dBm, respectively. A 2-kV human-body model (HBM) ESD protection of the FEM is predicted in transient simulations and measured with transmission line pulse (TLP) tests. " ,
author = " Xinyan Tang and Yao Liu and Giovanni Mangraviti and Zhiwei Zong and Khaled Khalaf and Yang Zhang and Wei-Min Wu and Shih-Hung Chen and Bjorn Debaillie and Piet Wambacq " ,
year = " 2021 " ,
month = jun,
doi = " 10.1109/TMTT.2021.3059891 " ,
language = " English " ,
volume = " 69 " ,
pages = " 28412853 " ,
journal = " IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques " ,
issn = " 0018-9480 " ,
publisher = " Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. " ,
number = " 6 " ,
}