Ka-band CMOS for communications applications

拟议的研究的目的是建模和实验研究高速微电子微波和毫米波通信系统使用互补金属氧化物半导体（CMOS）工艺，通常用于数字电路。由于CMOS电路的制造成本可以显著低于大多数传统微波技术，因此它们为制造商提供了显著的竞争优势。这一新兴的研究领域在无线和光子系统中都有应用。首先，该项目将开发和测试平面片外天线和CMOS电子器件之间的新型高速平面电感互连。天线与硅电路的集成是一个非常具有挑战性的问题，因为传统的低电阻率硅衬底在靠近时会显著降低天线的效率。第二个主要推动力是开发用于CMOS低噪声放大器（LNA）、混频器和压控振荡器（VCO）的低损耗电感元件。传统无源元件的损耗严重降低了CMOS电路在这些频率下的性能。第三个主要目标是使用廉价的0.18 μ m工艺完成24 GHz完全集成的差分CMOS前端。利用前两个项目中开发的技术，评估由LNA、混频器和压控振荡器组成的集成天线的差分接收机的性能。本项目旨在开发能够开发紧凑、低成本、高数据速率通信系统的技术。

The objective of the proposed research is to model and experimentally investigate high-speed microelectronics for microwave and millimeter wave communication systems using complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) processes, commonly used for digital circuits. Since circuit fabrication costs in CMOS can be significantly lower than most of the traditional microwave technologies, they offer significant competitive advantages to manufacturers. This emerging area of research has applications for both wireless and  photonic systems.Three primary thrusts are proposed. Firstly, the project will develop and test novel high speed planar inductive interconnects between planar off-chip antennas and CMOS electronics. The integration of antennas with silicon circuits is a very challenging problem, as traditional low-resistivity silicon substrates significantly degrade the efficiency of antennas when in close proximity.The second major thrust is the development of low-loss inductive elements for CMOS low noise amplifiers (LNAs), mixers, and voltage controlled oscillators (VCOs). The loss of traditional passive elements significantly degrade performance of CMOS circuits at these frequencies.The third major thrust is the completion of a completely integrated differential CMOS front-end at 24 GHz using an inexpensive 0.18 um process. Using techniques developed in the first two thrusts, the performance of a differential receiver consisting of an integrated antenna with an LNA, mixer, and voltage controlled oscillator will be assessed.This project proposes to develop techniques that enable the development of compact, low cost communication systems at high data rates.