A high-performance miniaturized 6/4-GHz satellite receiver using MMIC technology

This paper presents a unique design concept for a dual-frequency,electronically steerable, MM-wave phased array antenna using Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) technology. Such an antenna design will be found most attractive for satellite communication and missile seeker applications, where size, weight and power consumption are the most stringent requirements. The block diagram of a dual-frequency (20 GHz/30 GHz), electronically steerable, phased array antenna using MMIC technology is shown in Figure 1. Specific details on the critical RF components are also shown in Figure 1. Because of the location of the radiating elements on the hemispherical surface, the antenna is inherently capable of providing electronic scanning over 360 deg. in AZ-plane and over plus/minus 60 deg. in EL-plane. This electronically steerable phased array antenna will generate multiple beams in the AZ-plane with consistent bandwidth and pattern symmetry. This design exploits true integration of printed circuit antenna technology, GaAs active device technology, MM-wave microstrip technology and printed circuit time delay phase shifting element technology. This design employs microstrip periodic structure transmission line sections as time delay phasing elements, which requires no input power. The printed circuit microstrip line sections will be used as feed networks. Two distinct dual- frequency, antenna element fabrication techniques, namely, stacked-patch element (Figure 2a) and collocated, interleaved-patch element (Figure 2b), were investigated in terms of cost, size, performance and complexity. Tradeoff studies performed seem to indicate that stacked-patch element approach will offer minimum size and weight. The physical dimensions shown in Figure 1 and 2 are computed for 20 GHz and 30 GHz operations. All the electronics, control circuits and RF MMIC circuits can be located within the hemispherical structure. The input power, overall system size and weight will depend on the antenna gain requirement, inter-element spacing, number of elements and phase shifter types. It is important to mention that delay line phasing networks using printed circuit periodic structures will provide optimum flexibility in phasing of the antenna elements with minimum loss. The proposed antenna architecture for a dual-frequency operation using a common aperture and MMIC technology seems to offer an antenna system with minimum cost, size, weight and power consumption.

Modern reconfigurable communication systems demand microwave voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) possessing an octave-wide bandwidth. Many advanced applications require also a low phase noise and a low current consumption for such VCOs. To meet an octave-bandwidth specification in combination with a low phase noise and a low current consumption it is desirable to implement a microwave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) technology. In-house gallium arsenide (GaAs) MMIC technology is implemented to build VCOs in this work. At the same time, in order to achieve a high-Q wide frequency tuning range, we implemented also a discrete variable capacitance diode (varicap). The discrete varicap is stacked above MMIC oscillator chip. A vertical design structure of the discrete varicap guarantees a high overlap capacitance ratio (K>20) along with reduced affect of the parasitic reactance. A high overlap capacitance ratio is needed for an octave-wide frequency tuning, while reduced affect of the parasitic reactance increases Q-factor of the VCO resonator. Hence, a sequential integration of the discrete varicap over monolithic oscillator chip resolves referred tough challenges in the design of VCO. Integrated VCO is finally packaged as a surface-mount device (SMD). At that SMD ceramic package is sealed with the metal lid. The oscillator circuitry is based on the conventional negative resistance approach with a positive feedback realized by common-source capacitance. An active element of the oscillator is a pseudomorphic high electron-mobility transistor (pHEMT). The gate length of a transistor is 0.15 µm. The width of the gate varies from 240 µm to 360 µm depending on working frequencies of the VCO. The varicap is built on the GaAs epitaxial heterostructure having customized gradient doping profile with abrupt junction. Nonlinear behavioral model of the varicap is extracted from the diode measurements and is further used for VCO simulation. Two types of VCO have been designed, fabricated and tested. First (second) type of VCO provides a tuning range from 5 to 10 GHz (from 10 GHz to 20 GHz), respectively. The measurement results demonstrate an output power of 3.9 dBm; a current consumption of 30 mA at a supply voltage of 5 V; a phase noise of minus 90 dBc/Hz at 100 kHz offset (minus 85 dBc/Hz at 100 kHz offset) for the first (second) type of VCO, respectively.

Future communications satellites are likely to use gallium arsenide (GaAs) monolithic microwave integrated-circuit (MMIC) technology in most, if not all, communications payload subsystems. Multiple- scanning beam antenna systems are expected to use GaAs MMIC's to increase functional capability, to reduce volume, weight, and cost, and to greatly improve system reliability. RF and IF matrix switch technology based on GaAs MMIC's is also being developed for these reasons. MMIC technology, including gigabit-rate GaAs digital integrated circuits, offers substantial advantages in power consumption and weight over silicon technologies for high-throughput, on-board baseband processor systems. In this paper, current developments in GaAs MMIC technology are described,and the status and prospects of the technology are assessed.

Rapid expansion of microwave systems in phased array radar and commercial applications in the emerging wireless communication system areas requires affordable, compact, lightweight, reliable, solid state, integrated microwave transmit/receive (T/R) modules. Traditional microwave modules fabricated using microstrip-based hybrid/ monolithic integrated circuitry are incompatible with low cost, high volume, robotics manufacturing techniques for multi-chip microwave modules, because of the fragile nature of current 4 mil-thick gallium arsenide monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs). Backside processing, including wafer thinning and via-hole ground electrode access, are also significant yield limiting factors for MMIC manufacturing. Hughes has developed a novel, robust, flip-chip approach for microwave T/R modules using self-aligned, solder reflow, multichip assembly techniques. The rugged (25 mil thick), passivated MMIC chips with coplanar waveguide circuitry, silicon-like, on-chip multilayer metal interconnects, with off-chip plated metal electrical/thermal paths offers major advantages over conventional MMICs (Table 1). Elimination of wafer thinning will be critical for processing and handling of large-diameter wafers. The use of plated metal thermal bumps directly on top of active circuit elements leads to 30% thermal property improvement over conventional GaAs MMICs.

Recent progress of GaAs Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) and Gb/s logic has established a solid foundation for many future system applications. Systems benefiting from these advances include phased/adaptive arrays, MILSATCOM, Television Receive-Only (TVRO) receiver, Electronic Warfare (EW), instrumentation and radar. This paper presents various MMIC technologies and tradeoffs of materials (crystal growths, orientations, material properties, characterization techniques, etc.), processes (ion-implantation, Molecular Beam Epitaxy, Vapor Phase Epitaxy, Liquid Phase Epitaxy), and circuit fabrication via hole, air bridge, active matching, etc. The performance of the presently achieved SHF/EHF MMIC's are summarized. Technical problems, possible solutions, and future trends of MMIC design and fabrication (impedance matching methods, bias, low noise techniques, medium power IC's, EHF circuits, filters, isolators, packaging techniques, etc.) are also described.

A 64-element, Ku-band, active phased-array antenna developed for application in communications satellites is presented. Antenna radiation pattern and spatial isolation measurements show good agreement with predictions. In order to minimize the performance variations among the array elements, the 5-b digital phase shifter, the 50-b digital attenuator, and the amplifiers have been realized using MMIC (monolithic microwave integrated circuit) technology. This allowed the realization of 64 active modules whose amplitude and phase variations over 11.7 to 12.7 GHz are within +or-1.5 dB and +or-10 degrees . The successful development of this broadband active phased array has demonstrated the maturity of MMIC technology and the feasibility of active arrays in future communications satellites. >

메타 물질의 한 형태인 LHTL(Left-Handed Transmission Line)과 기존의 전송 선로 형태인 RHTL(Right-Handed Transmission Line)을 이용하여 광대역 I-Q 벡터 신호 생성을 위한 <TEX>$90^{\circ}$</TEX> 커플러를 설계, 제작하고 측정을 하였다. LHTL과 RHTL 모두 커패시터와 인덕터를 이용하여 합성 전송 선로 형태로 구성함으로써, 그 크기를 최소화 하였다. 또한, 제안된 커플러 제작에 필요한 Wilkinson 전력 분배기를 합성 RHTL을 이용하여 간단하게 구현함으로써 전체 회로의 크기를 <TEX>$11mm{\times}12mm$</TEX>로 만들 수 있었다. 주파수 범위 0.8~1.25 GHz에 대해 출력의 위상 차이가 <TEX>$90^{\circ}{\pm}5^{\circ}$</TEX>를 유지함으로써 광대역 <TEX>$90^{\circ}$</TEX> 커플러를 작은 크기로 만들 수 있었다. 동 주파수 범위에 대해 삽입 손실을 1.6 dB 이하로, 반사 손실을 10.1 dB 이상으로 유지 가능했다. 필자가 아는 한 이는 그 주파수 대에서 가장 작은 광대역 <TEX>$90^{\circ}$</TEX> 커플러이며, MMIC(Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit)로 만들 경우 그 크기를 훨씬 더 줄일 수 있을 것이다. By using LHTL(Left-Handed Transmission Line) which is a form of a metamaterial and conventional RHTL (Right-Handed Transmission Line), we designed, fabricated and tested a broadband <TEX>$90^{\circ}$</TEX> coupler which is a basic circuit for I-Q vector signal generation. Synthetic LHTL and RHTL were implemented with capacitors and inductors only, that the size is minimized. Also, by implementing a Wilkinson power divider which is required for the suggested circuit using a synthetic RHTL, the size of whole circuit is only <TEX>$11mm{\times}12mm$</TEX>. For the frequency range 0.8~1.25 GHz, the phase difference at the outputs maintained <TEX>$90^{\circ}{\pm}5^{\circ}$</TEX> and thus, a broadband <TEX>$90^{\circ}$</TEX> coupler could be made in a compact form. for the same frequency range, the insertion loss is less than 1.6 dB and return loss is more than 10.1 dB. To the best of our knowledge, this is the smallest and broadband <TEX>$90^{\circ}$</TEX> coupler for the frequency range and if the circuit is made with MMIC(Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit) technology, the size will be reduced much further.

The development of 30-GHz-band monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) and multichip MMIC modules (low-noise amplifier and frequency converters) is reported. A 30-GHz-band full-MMIC receiver for satellite transponders was successfully constructed using the MMIC modules and the performance of the full-MMIC receiver is evaluated. Test results verify its successful performance as a satellite receiver system. The design and performance of the MMICs (a two-stage amplifier, an image rejection mixer, and a frequency multiplier), of multichip-type MMIC modules (a 30-GHz-band low-noise amplifier module with 30 dB gain and 8.2 dB noise figure, and an image rejection frequency converter with a 10 dB conversion loss and an 18 dB image rejection ratio) and of the full-MMIC receiver, which weighs 1/6 as much as a conventional hybrid integrated circuit are presented.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

A miniature low-current GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) downconverter with a novel image rejection filter was developed for commercial Ku-band broadcast satellite receivers. The low-noise RF amplifier, image rejection filter mixer, and intermediate-frequency amplifier were integrated on this MMIC. This MMIC used 0.3- mu m-gate ion-implanted GaAs MESFETs. The individual circuit designs and performance are described. The current consumption of the MMIC downconverter was only 40 mA. The chip size of the MMIC downconverter with the image rejection filter was 1.7 mm*2.05 mm. >

In this paper, we have first proposed a RF MEMS thermistor power sensor based on Wheatstone full-bridge structure. The proposed RF MEMS thermistor power sensor is fabricated using GaAs MMIC (monolithic microwave integrated circuit) technology. In this device, two parallel low TCR (temperature coefficient of resistance) heaters are employed to keep the impedance match stable. And a Wheatstone full-bridge formed by four identical thermistors is used for the unknown RF power measurement. To improve the sensitivity of the sensor, a MEMS substrate membrane is fabricated beneath the hot area to suppress longitudinal heat loss by back etching process. The whole structure is integrated with CPW transmission line, which has the potential of high integration density. Compared with traditional thermistor power sensor, this device has both advantages of stable impedance match and high sensitivity.

This paper describes and demonstrates novel monolithic microwave ICs (MMICs) that are suitable for an integrated spectrum analyzer (SA) front end. The proposed MMICs; an up-converter, a down-converter and an active LC filter provide an ultra-wideband performance of 1-32 GHz to the front end as well as remarkable size reduction. These are the results of effective utilization of active signal combination, port isolation, impedance matching and impedance translation. >

This paper will discuss the practical design of an InP-based heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) Q-band high IP3 monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) amplifier. The amplifier features a novel "double-balanced" design approach that incorporates a practical "current reuse" biasing scheme. The current reuse biasing results in a 40% reduction in current consumption through a standard 5-V supply and simplifies the MMIC's system integration while the double-balanced design produces wide-band IP3, gain, and excellent out-of-band return loss performance required for practical applications. The three-stage MMIC amplifier achieves 15.4 dB of gain, 28.3 dBm of IP3, and a P/sub sat/ of 16.2 dBm at 44 GHz. An output-stage IP3/P/sub dc/ ratio linearity-figure-of-merit of 5.3 is obtained and is believed to be among the best reported for an InP-HBT amplifier operating at Q-band frequencies. The IP3 performance was optimized using load-pull simulations based on a custom HBT IP3 model, Different device cell configurations such as the common-emitter, common-base, and cascode were also considered. The common emitter amplifier results of this paper demonstrate the promising linearity performance of InP-HBT's and its practical bias and integration capability which is attractive for Q-band receiver applications.

This work describes the L-band low voltage (/spl ges/1.6 V) power performance of AlGAs/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs), their modeling and the design of a 2-W monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) for 3-V wireless mobile PCN applications (1800 MHz). The two-stage MMIC achieves 62% power-added efficiency (PAE) and 33 dB of linear gain, at a very small chip size of 1.2 mm/sup 2/. To our knowledge this is the best combination of power performance data for wireless applications demonstrated so far for a MMIC. The chip size is about a factor of four smaller than comparable MMIC's known before. The MMIC offers the potential both for low cost production due to small chip size, single voltage supply, and high performance at the same time.

High-power and high-gain Ka-band GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) were developed using a Be coimplantation technique. At 29.5 GHz, an output power of 1 W with 4.2 dB gain was obtained for a 4.8-mm width MMIC. An intercept point of +42 dBm has been obtained from the third-order intermodulation distortion measurement. >

This article presents a Ku‐band Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) and RF front‐end module for space applications. LNA MMIC was developed with utilizing 0.07 μm GaAs m‐HEMT process. Noise Figure (NF) and gain results of LNA module were measured as 1.3 and 43 dB, respectively and OIP3 was measured as +20 dBm at the ambient temperature. The LNA module was tested in the temperature range between −25°C and 75°C and small signal gain and NF variation were less than 3 and 0.8 dB, respectively. This article describes the MMIC LNA design, mechanical chassis design, WR75 waveguide‐to‐microstrip design, and measurement results of the LNA front‐end module.