A 17.8-20.2 GHz Compact Vector-Sum Phase Shifter in 130 nm SiGe BiCMOS Technology for LEO Gateways Receivers

Javier Del Pino; Sunil L Khemchandani; Mario San-Miguel-Montesdeoca; Sergio Mateos-Angulo; Daniel Mayor-Duarte; Jose Luis Saiz-Perez; David Galante-Sempere

doi:10.3390/mi14061184

A 17.8-20.2 GHz Compact Vector-Sum Phase Shifter in 130 nm SiGe BiCMOS Technology for LEO Gateways Receivers

Micromachines (Basel). 2023 May 31;14(6):1184. doi: 10.3390/mi14061184.

Authors

Javier Del Pino¹, Sunil L Khemchandani¹, Mario San-Miguel-Montesdeoca², Sergio Mateos-Angulo², Daniel Mayor-Duarte², Jose Luis Saiz-Perez², David Galante-Sempere¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Applied Microelectronics (IUMA), Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 35017 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
² Wireless Innovative MMIC (WIMMIC), 35017 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.

Abstract

This paper presents a novel and compact vector modulator (VM) architecture implemented in 130 nm SiGe BiCMOS technology. The design is suitable for use in receive phased arrays for the gateways of major low Earth orbit (LEO) constellations that operate in the 17.8 to 20.2 GHz frequency range. The proposed architecture uses four variable gain amplifiers (VGA) that are active at any given time and are switched to generate the four quadrants. Compared to conventional architectures, this structure is more compact and produces double the output amplitude. The design offers 6-bit phase control for 360°, and the total root mean square (RMS) phase and gain errors are 2.36° and 1.46 dB, respectively. The design occupies an area of 1309.4 μm × 1783.8 μm (including pads).

Keywords: SiGe; phased array; vector modulator (VM); vector-sum phase shifter (VSPS).

Grants and funding

This work has been partially supported by Grant PID2021-127712OB-C21 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF a way of making Europe”; Grant DIN2020-011622 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by the “European union NextGenerationEU/PRTR”; and Grant TESIS2019010100 funded by the Canary Agency for Research, Innovation, and Information Society (ACIISI).