38-GHz Phased Array Transmitter and Receiver Based on Scalable Phased Array Modules With Endfire Antenna Arrays for 5G MMW Data Links

This article presents the 38-GHz phased array 32-element Tx and 16-element Rx with 2-GHz IF and 5-GHz LO for fifth-generation (5G) millimeter-wave (MMW) communications. The Tx and Rx beamformers and upconverters/downconverters are fabricated in 65-nm CMOS. The PAs and LNAs near antenna ends are fabricated in 0.15-mu m GaAs pHEMT. The eight-element Tx and four-element Rx phased array printed circuit board (PCB) modules integrated with multiple integrated circuits (ICs) and endfire antennas are implemented as unit cells. Four pieces of Tx modules are vertically stacked to construct an 8 x 4 brick array (planar array), while four Rx modules are to construct a 4 x 4 array. According to 38-GHz over-the-air (OTA) measurements, the 32-element Tx shows 47.5-dBm equivalent isotropic radiated power (EIRP) at OP1-dB with -35.2-dB image rejection ratio (IMRR) and -37.4-dB x8 LORR. The 16-element Rx at 38 GHz shows -4-dBm OP1-dB with -28-dB IMRR and -36.6-dB LORR. The Tx and Rx support the beam scanning around +/- 60 degrees azimuth and +/- 30 degrees elevation planes. The Tx-to-Rx wireless data link demonstrates 64 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM)/400 M-BR, 256 QAM/200 M-BR, and 512 QAM/100 M- BR in 20 m. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first 5G 37-/39-GHz phased array Tx/Rx using the scalable brick array configuration and demonstrating competitive performances compared with previous works.