Broucke Reinier, Singh Nishant, Van Osta Michiel, Van Kerrebrouck Joris, Demeester Piet, Lemey Sam, Torfs Guy
Department of Information Technology, IDLab, Ghent University - imec, 9052, Ghent, Belgium.
Sci Rep. 2023 Nov 23;13(1):20560. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-47908-w.
To address the rising demand for high-speed wireless data links, communication systems operating at frequencies beyond [Formula: see text] are being targeted. A key enabling technology in the development of these wireless systems is the phased antenna array. Yet, the design and implementation of such steerable antenna arrays at frequencies over [Formula: see text] comes with a multitude of challenges. In particular, the cointegration of active electronics at each antenna element poses a major hurdle due to the inherent space constraints in the array. This article proposes a novel scalable concept for opto-electronic phased antenna arrays operating at 140 GHz. It details the system architecture of a transmitter that enables the implementation of large scale, wideband, 2D steerable phased antenna arrays and presents the design and measurement of a compact SiGe power amplifier (PA) chip to be used as one of its key building blocks. The amplifier achieves a gain of 20 dB at 135 GHz, features a [Formula: see text] of 14.6 dBm and can support data rates up to 45 Gbps in a limited footprint of only 540μm × 550μm. This makes it one of the fastest, most powerful D-band power amplifiers in literature with a footprint compatible with [Formula: see text]-spaced phased array integration.
为了满足对高速无线数据链路不断增长的需求,工作在高于[公式:见原文]频率的通信系统成为目标。这些无线系统开发中的一项关键 enabling 技术是相控天线阵列。然而,在高于[公式:见原文]频率下设计和实现这种可转向天线阵列面临诸多挑战。特别是,由于阵列中固有的空间限制,每个天线元件上有源电子器件的共集成构成了一个主要障碍。本文提出了一种用于工作在毫米波频段的光电相控天线阵列的新型可扩展概念。它详细介绍了一种发射机的系统架构,该架构能够实现大规模、宽带、二维可转向相控天线阵列,并展示了一种紧凑型 SiGe 功率放大器(PA)芯片的设计和测量,该芯片将用作其关键构建模块之一。该放大器在毫米波频段实现了 20 dB 的增益,输出功率为 14.6 dBm,并且在仅 540μm×550μm 的有限占地面积内可支持高达 45 Gbps 的数据速率。这使其成为文献中最快、最强大的 D 波段功率放大器之一,其占地面积与[公式:见原文]间距的相控阵列集成兼容。