Second Generation 60-GHz Transceiver Chipset Supporting Multiple Modulations at Gb/s data rates (Invited) Scott Reynolds 1 , Alberto Valdes-Garcia 1 , Brian Floyd 1 , Troy Beukema 1 , Brian Gaucher 1 , Duixian Liu 1 , Nils Hoivik 1 and Bradley Orner 2 1 IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY 2 IBM Semiconductor Research and Development Center, Essex Junction, VT Abstract — A feature-rich second-generation 60-GHz transceiver chipset is introduced. It integrates dual- conversion superheterodyne receiver and transmitter chains, a sub-integer frequency synthesizer, full programmability from a digital interface, modulator and demodulator circuits to support analog modulations (e.g. MSK, BPSK), as well as a universal I&Q interface for digital modulation formats (e.g. OFDM). Achieved performance includes 6-dB receiver noise figure and 12 dBm transmitter output 1dB compression point. Wireless link experiments with different modulation formats for 2-Gb/s real-time uncompressed HDTV transmission are discussed. Additionally, recent millimeter- wave package and antenna developments are summarized and a 60GHz silicon micromachined antenna is presented. Index Terms — 60 GHz, millimeter wave integrated circuits, SiGe, V-band, HDTV, superheterodyne, Si carrier. I. INTRODUCTION Silicon technology is now capable of supporting millimeter-wave (mmWave) applications in the 60-100 GHz region [1-6]. Recently, highly integrated mmWave systems and high performance components have been reported in SiGe [1], [6], SiGe:C [5], SOI CMOS [3] and bulk CMOS [2], [4]. Silicon’s economies of scale promises to dramatically reduce the form factor, power, and cost of existing mmWave applications while also opening up new mmWave market opportunities. These include 60-GHz wireless communications, 77-GHz automotive radar, and 94-GHz imagers and radiometers. This paper introduces a second-generation (Gen-2) SiGe 60-GHz transceiver chipset. It also describes a silicon- carrier packaging methodology [7] and a high-gain patch array antenna. The Gen-2 chipset has on-chip analog modulators and demodulators [8] to allow for a simple link implementation when the wireless channel is AWGN, line- of-sight. Nonetheless, the chipset retains the ability to support complex I/Q-based modulations (8PSK, 16QAM, OFDM, etc.) for multi-path, non-line-of-sight wireless channels. Additional aspects of the chipset include a new frequency synthesizer [9], a power amplifier with RMS detection [10], and many digitally programmable features. Fig. 1 Block diagram of Gen-2 60-GHz transceiver A summary of the employed SiGe BiCMOS technology is presented in Section II. Following the chipset description and measurement results in Section III, a summary of the 60GHz HDTV wireless link experiments performed with the first and second generation radios is presented in section IV. Second generation packaging and antenna concepts are discussed in section V. Finally, an outlook of future silicon devices and components for mmWave applications is provided. II. PROCESS TECHNOLOGY Crucial to the goals of simplicity and reduced cost is the development of a fabrication process and design environment which is both compatible with existing infrastructure and enhanced with the components necessary for mmWave applications. The process (BiCMOS8HP) utilized in this case is based on IBM’s 130 nm CMOS foundry technology. The process is compatible with previously designed logic, permitting easy incorporation of digital support of the RF components, as x3 PFD CP LPF DIV SERIAL INTERFACE ÷2 FM DISCR AM DET MUX MUX IF Amp LNA BB PGA Q / (FM Data) I / (AM Data) RF In clk Receiver IC x3 PFD CP LPF DIV SERIAL INTERFACE RMS Detector Composite Quadrature Modulator and IF Up-mixer IF Amp Q I RF Out clk PA Driver FSK Data Transmitter IC ÷2 x3 PFD CP LPF DIV SERIAL INTERFACE ÷2 FM DISCR AM DET MUX MUX IF Amp LNA BB PGA Q / (FM Data) I / (AM Data) RF In clk Receiver IC x3 PFD CP LPF DIV SERIAL INTERFACE RMS Detector Composite Quadrature Modulator and IF Up-mixer IF Amp Q I RF Out clk PA Driver FSK Data Transmitter IC ÷2 192 1-4244-1018-5/07/$25.00 ©2007 IEEE IEEE BCTM 13.1