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 " ,
}