A High-Linearity, 24–30 GHz RF, Beamforming and Frequency-Conversion IC for Scalable 5G Phased Arrays
Arun Paidimarri, Masayuki Yoshiyama, Jean‐Olivier Plouchart, Alberto Valdes‐Garcia, Wooram Lee, Yuma Okuyama, Mark Yeck, Çağlar Özdağ, Sudipto Chakraborty, Yo Yamaguchi, Bodhisatwa Sadhu
Abstract
Phased array antenna modules can benefit from splitting beamforming and frequency-conversion functions between different ICs to enable scalability, configurability and Si area efficiency. This work introduces a frequency-conversion IC that features architecture and high-linearity features that enable support of dual-polarized 5G scaled phased arrays with >64 antenna elements. The IC integrates two <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\text{TX}+\text{RX}$</tex> frequency conversion cores (one for each antenna polarization). Each core comprises (1) an RX path with two high-linearity mixers sharing a common load for power combining, (2) a TX path with an up-conversion mixer followed by a power splitter and two PAs, and (3) T/R switches. The IC occupies 10.6 mm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> and supports 24–30 GHz RF and 2–5 GHz IF. On-wafer measurement results from the full IC and an RX mixer core breakout are presented. The TX path achieves 7–14 dBm oP1dB while the RX mixer achieves >+14 dBm IIP3 at 28GHz. The TX path has a conversion gain >25 dB and <12.5 dB NF. The RX path for a single-input has >-1 dB conversion gain and <15 dB NF.