A 30 GHz MMIC receiver for satellite transponders

The development of 30-GHz-band monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) and multichip MMIC modules (low-noise amplifier and frequency converters) is reported. A 30-GHz-band full-MMIC receiver for satellite transponders was successfully constructed using the MMIC modules and the performance of the full-MMIC receiver is evaluated. Test results verify its successful performance as a satellite receiver system. The design and performance of the MMICs (a two-stage amplifier, an image rejection mixer, and a frequency multiplier), of multichip-type MMIC modules (a 30-GHz-band low-noise amplifier module with 30 dB gain and 8.2 dB noise figure, and an image rejection frequency converter with a 10 dB conversion loss and an 18 dB image rejection ratio) and of the full-MMIC receiver, which weighs 1/6 as much as a conventional hybrid integrated circuit are presented     

基于RC-CR多相网络的镜频抑制接收机MMIC

基于RC-CR多相网络技术研制了一款S波段镜频抑制接收机单片微波集成电路(MMIC),在MMIC芯片上集成S波段低噪声放大器(LNA)、差分IQ混频器、本振(LO)驱动放大器、RC-CR多相网络滤波器等电路单元,实现了S波段单片镜频抑制接收机,解决了镜频接收机小型化的问题.电路、电磁场软件仿真以及采用GaAs赝配高电子迁移率晶体管(PHEMT)工艺流片后的结果表明,在S波段实现了噪声系数小于1.8 dB,增益大于12 dB,中频(150±5) MHz带内镜频抑制大于35 dBc的技术指标.MMIC的芯片尺寸为4.8 mn×2.5 mm×0.07 mm.此镜频抑制接收机MMIC具有指标优异、体积小、集成度高的特点,可广泛用于各种需小型化的相控阵雷达和通信系统中.     

Ku频段多通道抗振激励源设计

介绍一种Ku频段多通道抗振激励源设计,采用X频段抗振低相噪介质稳频振荡器(DRO),通过结构固连减少各部分电路在振动环境中的相对运动,保证了激励源在振动条件下的稳定性.采用二次谐波镜频抑制混频器一次变频,简化了激励源电路并实现了对本振泄漏的高抑制度和良好的边带抑制.多芯片微带混合集成设计实现了激励源的小型化.研制的样机达到了振动环境下相噪优于-97 dBc/Hz@10kHz,本振抑制大于32 dB、边带抑制大于35 dB的优良性能,验证了设计技术的有效性.     

Design of Ka-band Monolithic Image Rejection Mixer

In this paper, a 30–40 GHz monolithic image rejection mixer is described. The mixer employs two drain LO injection mixer cells, which can perform well even with zero drain bias voltage. Also it employs Lange Coupler for RF quadrature signal generation. The mixer is fabricated by a commercial 0.18-μm pseudomorphic high electron-mobility transistor (pHEMT) process. It achieves image rejection ratio of more than 20.4 dB and conversion loss of less than 12.6 dB in the frequency range of 30 to 38 GHz.     

Ka频段宽带镜频抑制谐波混频器的设计

介绍了一种在Ka频段具有镜频抑制功能的四次谐波混合集成电路混频器的设计与实现.该混频器主要采用微带混合集成电路,由薄膜陶瓷基片制作.经测试,当中频固定在70 MHz,在射频大于4 GHz带宽内,变频损耗小于11.2 dB,镜频抑制度大于20 dB.     

A 320–360 GHz Subharmonically Pumped Image Rejection Mixer Using Planar Schottky Diodes

This letter presents the design, fabrication and test of an integrated 320–360 GHz subharmonic image rejection mixer using planar Schottky diodes. The integrated circuit uses two separate anti-parallel pairs of diodes mounted onto a single quartz-based circuit. Measurement results give best single sideband (SSB) receiver noise temperatures of approximately 3400 K at 340 GHz, with an image rejection from 7.2 to 24.1 dB over the 320–360 GHz frequency band. This work represents the first demonstration of a Schottky based SSB mixer at submillimeter wavelengths.      

Highly Integrated Ka-Band Sub-Harmonic Image-Reject Down-Converter MMIC

An integrated compact down-converter monolithic microwave integrated circuit chip is presented. It is designed using anti-parallel diode pair sub-harmonic image reject mixer and RF low noise amplifier. The quasi-lumped circuit components are employed in circuit design for the compact chip size. The conversion gain of the chip is 10–14 dB, image rejection above 20 dBc, and noise figure of 3.5–4.5 dB for the RF frequency of 29–36 GHz. The chip size is as compact as $2.24~{rm mm}^{2}$ on a $100~mu{rm m}$ GaAs substrate thickness.      

X-Band Integrated Circuit Mixer with Reactively Terminated Image

An X-band mixer using GaAs Schottky barrier diodes with a thin-film 500-MHz IF preamplifier was developed using hybrid microwave integrated circuit techniques. The balanced mixer had filters to provide a short circuit at the image frequency. The entire mixer preamplifier occupied an area of only 0.38 square inches and had a noise figure of 6.7 dB which corresponded quite closely to the theoretical noise figure considering all losses. The thin-film IF amplifier alone had a 2.2-dB noise figure and the mixer IF amplifier coupling network had a loss of 0.4 dB.     

X-Band Integrated Circuit Mixer with Reactively Terminated Image

An X-band mixer using GaAs Schottky barrier diodes with a thin-film 500-MHz IF preamplifier was developed using hybrid microwave integrated circuit techniques. The balanced mixer had filters to provide a short circuit at the image frequency. The entire mixer preamplifier occupied an area of only 0.38 square inches and had a noise figure of 6.7 dB which corresponded quite closely to the theoretical noise figure considering all losses. The thin-film IF amplifier alone had a 2.2-dB noise figure and the mixer IF amplifier coupling network had a loss of 0.4 dB.     

X-band integrated circuit mixer with reactively terminated image

AnX-band mixer using GaAS Schottky barrier diodes with a thin-film 500-MHz IF preamplifier was developed using hybrid microwave integrated circuit techniques. The balanced mixer had filters to provide a short circuit at the image frequency. The entire mixer preamplifier occupied an area of only 0.38 square inches and had a noise figure of 6.7 dB which corresponded quite closely to the theoretical noise figure considering all losses. The thin-film IF amplifier alone had a 2.2-dB noise figure and the mixer IF amplifier coupling network had a loss of 0.4 dB.     

K波段单片接收机设计

基于0.15μm GaAs PHEMT工艺,设计了一款K波段MMIC接收机,频率覆盖19～26 GHz。在单个芯片内集成了平衡式低噪声放大器、本振驱动放大器、镜像抑制次谐波混频器等电路。在19～26 GHz射频输入带宽内的转换增益为7 dB;噪声系数典型值为4 dB;输入回波损耗-12 dB;镜像抑制15 dB;本振-射频隔离度55 dB。为了降低了芯片成本,采用电磁场仿真软件对电路面积做优化设计,使得芯片面积仅为2 mm×4 mm。此接收机MMIC具有集成度高、可靠性高、体积小等特点,可广泛应用于各种微波通信系统和雷达系统。     

Millimeter-Wave Lange Coupler Design and Its Application in the Monolithic Image Rejection Mixer Design

This paper reports on the design of a Ka-band monolithic Lange coupler and its application in the monolithic fourth-harmonic image rejection mixer. Detailed design and analysis using Ansoft-HFSS simulator have been carried out. The simulated results of the Lange Coupler show the insert loss is better than ?3.64 dB; the amplitude balance is less than 0.55 dB and the phase balance is less than 0.65° from the 90° phase difference over the 30 to 40 GHz frequency range. The Lange Coupler is employed in a monolithic image rejection mixer that is fabricated by a commercial 0.18-μm pseudomorphic high electron-mobility transistor (pHEMT) process. The chip size is 1.4 mm × 1.9 mm. The image rejection ratio (IMR) is from 15 to 34 dB in the RF frequency range of 30 to 40 GHz.     

A DC-20-GHz InP HBT balanced analog multiplier for high-data-ratedirect-digital modulation and fiber-optic receiver applications

This paper reports on a dc-20-GHz InP heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) active mixer, which obtains the highest gain-bandwidth product (GBP) thus far reported for a direct-coupled analog mixer integrated circuit (IC). The InP HBT active mixer is based on the Gilbert transconductance multiplier cell and integrates RF, local oscillator, and IF amplifiers, High-speed 70-GHz f_T and 160-GHz f_max InP HBT devices along with microwave matching accounts for its record performance. Operated as a down-converter mixer, the monolithic microwave integrated circuit achieves an RF bandwidth (BW) from dc-20 GHz with 15.3-dB gain and benchmarks a factor of two improvement in GBP over state-of-the-art analog mixer ICs. Operated as an up-converter, direct-digital modulation of a 2.4-Gb/s 2³¹ -1 pseudorandom bit sequence (PRBS) onto a 20-GHz carrier frequency resulted in a carrier rejection of a 28 dB, clock suppression of 35 dBc, and less than a 50-ps demodulated eye phase jitter. The analog multiplier was also operated as a variable gain amplifier, which obtained 20-dB gain with a BW from dc-18 GHz, an third-order intercept of 12 dBm, and over 25 dB of dynamic range. A single-ended peak-to-peak output voltage of 600 mV was obtained with a ±35-mV 15 Gb/s 2⁵-1 PRES input demonstrating feasibility for OC-192 fiber-telecommunication data rates. The InP-based analog multiplier IC is an attractive building block for several wideband communications such as those employed in satellites, local multipoint distribution systems, high-speed local area networks, and fiber-optic links     

Design of Lange-couplers and single-sideband mixers usingmicromachining techniques

This paper reports on the design and performance of micromachined Lange-couplers and single-sideband mixers (SSB) on thin dielectric membranes at Ku-band. The micromachined Lange-coupler results in a 3.6±0.8 dB coupling bandwidth from 6.5 to 20 GHz. The Lange-coupler and an interdigital filter are used in a 17-GHz SSB. The SSB mixer requires 1-2 mW of local oscillator (LO) power without dc bias and achieves a 30 dB upper-sideband (USB) image rejection for an IF frequency of 1 GHz and above. The micromachined membrane technology can be easily scaled to millimeter-wave monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMIC's) to meet the low-cost requirements in automotive or portable communication systems     

SSB MMIC mixer with subharmonic LO and CPW circuits for 38 GHz bandapplications

A single side-band (SSB) MMIC mixer employing a sub-harmonic configuration with an anti-parallel diode (APD) pair for 38 GHz band applications is designed and fabricated. Coplanar waveguide (CPW) models were used to design the mixer circuit. It acts as both an up- and down-converter with a conversion loss of less than 12.4 dB and a high image rejection ratio of greater than 15.1 dB over a wide frequency range from 32.5 to 42.0 GHz     

A high-performance, miniaturized X-band active mixer forDBS receiver application with on-chip IF noise filter

A GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) dual-gate FET active mixer at X-band is described that is designed for direct broadcast satellite (DBS) applications. All of the components of the mixer, including biasing circuitry, RF, LO, and IF matching networks, as well as the IF noise filter, are implemented monolithically into a 25-mil×30-mil area. The design was process tolerant, and layout was compact for manufacturability and low cost. The mixer was integrated monolithically into a complete single-chip DBS low-noise block (LNB) converter. The active mixer has a conversion gain of 5.5 dB and a single-sideband noise figure of 8.5 dB. The circuit is manufactured using a 0.5-μm gate length, buried p^- depletion mode MESFET process without substrate-through via holes     

20GHz镜频抑制谐波混频器

镜频抑制混频器能有效地抑制镜像频率,提高雷达和通信系统的抗干扰能力。介绍了一个20 GHz二次谐波镜频抑制混频器的设计与制作,该镜频抑制混频器采用两个相同的二次谐波混频器做为两路混频单元,两路射频输入和中频输出分别用90°的功分器/合路器与两路混频器相连,本征用威尔金森功分器等幅同相输入两路混频。借助于90°的功分器,两路混频器的镜频产物在中频90°合路器的输出端口反相抵消,有用中频在90°合路器的输出端口同相叠加。利用ADS和HFSS对该混频器进行了仿真设计,并对实际电路进行了加工测试。经测试,当中频固定在400 MHz时,射频在20～21 GHz内变频损耗小于10 dB,镜频抑制大于20 dB。     

A 90–96 GHz CMOS down-conversion mixer with high conversion gain and excellent LO–RF isolation

A 90–96 GHz down-conversion mixer for 94 GHz image radar sensors using standard 90 nm CMOS technology is reported. RF negative resistance compensation technique, i.e. NMOS LC-oscillator-based RF transconductance (GM) stage load, is used to increase the output impedance and suppress the feedback capacitance C_gd of RF GM stage. Hence, conversion gain (CG), noise figure (NF) and LO–RF isolation of the mixer can be enhanced. The mixer consumes 15 mW and achieves excellent RF-port input reflection coefficient of ?10 to ?36.4 dB for frequencies of 85–105 GHz. The corresponding -10 dB input matching bandwidth is 20 GHz. In addition, for frequencies of 90–96 GHz, the mixer achieves CG of 6.3–9 dB (the corresponding 3-dB CG bandwidth is greater than 6 GHz) and LO–RF isolation of 40–45.1 dB, one of the best CG and LO–RF isolation results ever reported for a down-conversion mixer with operation frequency around 94 GHz. Furthermore, the mixer achieves an excellent input third-order intercept point of 1 dBm at 94 GHz. These results demonstrate the proposed down-conversion mixer architecture is very promising for 94 GHz image radar sensors.     

A 26–38 GHz Monolithic Doubly Balanced Mixer

A novel configuration of doubly balanced mixer is presented for operating over the 26–38 GHz band. The monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) was implemented by GaAs 0.15 $mu$ m pHEMT technology with the compact size of 1 $,times,$2.5 mm $^{2}$. A 180 $^circ$ hybrid circuit and two identical Marchand baluns were employed to achieve good port-to-port isolation. They also have wide band performance, make the mixer more compact, and simplify IF extraction. This mixer has a conversion loss of better than 6 dB, a dc-10 GHz IF bandwidth, and the LO-to-RF and LO-to-IF isolations are better than 20 dB and 29 dB, respectively.      

A Single-Ended Resistive $X$-Band AlGaN/GaN HEMT MMIC Mixer

A broadband highly linear X-band mixer in AlGaN/GaN monolithic microwave integrated circuit technology has been designed, processed, and characterized. The design is based on a 4 times 100 mum AlGaN/GaN HEMT in a single-ended circuit topology. The mixer has an IF bandwidth of 2 GHz with a conversion loss (CL) of < 8 dB across the X-band with a minimum CL of 6.9 dB at 11 GHz. The large-signal performance is exemplified by IIP 3 levels of 22 and 30 dBm at local oscillator drive levels of 15 and 23 dBm, respectively. A minimum noise figure of 9 dB is achieved at 11.6 GHz.