A 23.6–46.5 GHz LNA with 3 dB NF and 24 dB Gain Tuning Range in 28-nm CMOS Technology
- 2 November 2023
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papers
- Vol. 71 (1) , 29-39
Abstract
This paper presents a three-stage wideband LNA with gain switching technique designed for 5G millimeter-wave applications operating at 23.6-46.5 GHz. By deriving an analytical equation of input impedance and noise matching, a two-pole matching network based on ladder transformer is introduced. The coupling between the transformers can be used to control the two poles of S $_{11}$ and simultaneously match the source impedance to the optimized noise impedance, achieving broadband input matching and low noise figure (NF). A 24 dB gain tuning range with 6 dB per step has been designed to accommodate different input power level for automatic gain control (AGC). The gain control is implemented with current slicing at the 2 $^{\mathrm{nd}}$ and 3 $^{\mathrm{rd}}$ stages, which can keep input/output impedance nearly constant during gain switching. The proposed wideband LNA has been fabricated in 28-nm bulk CMOS process with a chip size of only 0.13 mm $^{2}$ . Measured results show a peak gain of 23 dB within a 3-dB bandwidth from 23.6 to 46.5 GHz, with S $_{11}$ better than $-$ 10 dB over the bandwidth. The measured NF is 2.2 -3.7 dB with an average of 3 dB. The input 1 dB gain compression point (IP1dB) ranges from $-$ 27 to $-$ 23.8 dBm throughout the gain bandwidth. Moreover, the measured gain can be switched with value of 21.5/14.9/9.1/2.9/ $-$ 3 dB, and the corresponding NF and IP1dB are 3.7/4.9/7.9/12.8/14.3 dB and $-$ 23.8/ $-$ 19.5/ $-$ 14.8/ $-$ 13.1/ $-$ 8.8 dBm at 33 GHz, respectively. This design is suitable for wideband 5G millimeter-wave communication.Keywords
Funding Information
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (62301223)
- China Post-Doctoral Science Foundation (2022M721186)
- Key Research and Development Program of Guangzhou (202103020002)
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