Low power millimeter-wave monolithic integrated circuits(MIMICs) in 0.13um CMOS for 60 GHz mobile terminals

Abstract

This dissertation presents low-power millimeter-wave monolithic integrated circuits (MIMICs) in 0.13$\mum$ CMOS for 60GHz mobile terminals. Wireless data rates increase tenfold every five years and Wireless local area networks (WLANs) and wireless personal area networks (WPANs) demand for rates beyond 1Gbps in the near future. 60GHz transmission is a very promising candidate in terms of the large unlicensed band of 7GHz, frequency reuse and small circuit size for several Gbps data communication applications. In 60GHz band, there are two strongest applications; high definition uncom-pressed video streaming and high data rate file downloading. Among them the latter suitable for mobile terminals such as cell phones, PDAs, laptop computers, etc, is expected to grow in the rapidly evolving global marketplace. For mobile terminal applications, low DC power consumption is one of the most key issues. Low cost, low DC power consumption and small form factor should be oriented to the mass market for 60GHz mobile applications. Scaling of MOS transistor dimensions to the nano scale has greatly improved the high frequency capability for CMOS technology. The cut-off frequency ($f_T$) and maximum oscillation frequency ($f_{max}$) of CMOS transistors are above 100GHz. Using such transistors, it should be feasible to build circuits operating at millimeter-wave bands. The use of CMOS technology is suitable for low cost, high yield, and highly integrated devices. Although CMOS technology has reported high operation frequency performances, inductors with high-Q and self resonance frequency (SRF) and low loss transmission lines remain questions for millimeter-wave circuit design due to the lossy silicon substrate. Considering to the loss, implementation, circuit size and isolation, etc, all transmission lines are formed by micro-strip line using a signal line and the ground plane located on metal 8 (top metal) and metal 1 (bottom metal), respectively. All transmission lines are...