A Low-Power BiCMOS 4-Element Phased Array Receiver for 76–84 GHz Radars and Communication Systems

Sang Young Kim, Gabriel M. Rebeiz
2012 IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits  
This paper presents a 76-84 GHz low-power 4element phased array receiver built using a 0.13 m BiCMOS process. The power consumption is reduced by using a single-ended design and alternating the amplifiers and phase shifter cells to result in a low noise figure at a low power consumption. A variable gain amplifier and an 11 trim bit are used to correct for the rms gain and phase errors at different operating frequencies. The phased array consumes 32 mW per channel and results in a gain of 10-19
more » ... B at 76-84 GHz, a noise figure of 10.5 0.5 dB at 80 GHz and an rms gain and phase error 0.8 dB and 7.2 , respectively, up to 81 GHz, and 1.1 dB and 10.4 up to 84 GHz. The phased array also shows a channel to channel coupling of 30 dB up to 84 GHz. To our knowledge, this work presents state-of-the-art on-chip performance at W-band frequencies. Index Terms-Millimeter-wave integrated circuits, phase shifters, phased arrays, silicon germanium. I. INTRODUCTION M ILLIMETER-WAVE automotive radar chips, both at 77 GHz (mostly FMCW systems) and at 79-81 GHz (pulse based systems), were recently demonstrated using SiGe and CMOS technologies [1]- [11] . The SiGe implementations were particularly successful due to their low phase noise performance and their operation at temperatures as high as 125 C which is required in automotive applications. There are two radar platforms for automotive applications: 1) long-range radars for cruise control (1-200 m) implemented at 76-77 GHz and with 200-1000 MHz bandwidth, and 2) short-range radars (0.5-40 m) implemented at 79-81 GHz using 1 ns radar pulses for blind-spot detection, lane change, and collision avoidance applications. Both applications require that the antenna beam be scanned in space, and this can be done using switched focal plane systems [12]-[14], digital beamforming [15], [16], or phased arrays [17], [18]. The phased arrays for the long-range radars are particularly challenging since an 8 cm aperture can be replaced by 8-24 antennas (the number Manuscript
doi:10.1109/jssc.2011.2170769 fatcat:p66xzlyk2beyhkuajrybgliu5e