Description

As part of a broader project of a V-band phased-array based on the Metallic nanowire Membrane (MnM), a novel mm-wave interposer technology being developed at University of São Paulo, we propose a variable-gain power amplifier (VG-PA) based on a folded Gilbert cell amplifier. This circuit will realize the insertion loss compensation of the phase-shifters, which isn't proportional to the phase shift for our novel device and sidelobe suppression for the phased-array. Because of the novel nature of the devices employed in this project, we could benefit from an ASIC that can fulfill our design constraints and give us more flexibility.

Design goals

Maximum transducer gain: 15 dB
Gain tunability: >15 dB
Input and output impedance: 40 ohms
Center frequency: 62 GHz
Bandwidth: 23 %

Block diagram

Schematics

Circuit core: folded Gilbert cell

References

[1] C. Liu, Y. Yan, W. Goh, Y. Xiong, L. Zhang and M. Madihian, "A 5-Gb/s Automatic Gain Control Amplifier With Temperature Compensation," in IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, vol. 47, no. 6, pp. 1323-1333, June 2012, doi: 10.1109/JSSC.2012.2192660.
[2] H. Yeh, S. Aloui, C. Chiong and H. Wang, "A Wide Gain Control Range V-Band CMOS Variable-Gain Amplifier With Built-In Linearizer," in IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, vol. 61, no. 2, pp. 902-913, Feb. 2013, doi: 10.1109/TMTT.2012.2233211.
[3] Bai, C., Wu, J., & Deng, X. (2019). A Review of CMOS Variable Gain Amplifiers and Programmable Gain Amplifiers. IETE Technical Review, 36(5), 484-500.
[4] M. V. Pelegrini et al., "Interposer based on metallic-nanowire-membrane (MnM) for mm-wave applications," 2016 11th European Microwave Integrated Circuits Conference (EuMIC), 2016, pp. 532-535, doi: 10.1109/EuMIC.2016.7777609.

Team members
Leonardo Gomes - PhD candidate at University of São Paulo, Brazil and Communauté Université Grenoble-Alpes, France. Contact: leonardo.gomes@usp.br
João Lé - graduate student at University of São Paulo, Brazil. Contact: joao.le@usp.br
Walter Aranda - MsC candidate at University of São Paulo, Brazil. Contact:
walter.aranda@usp.br