Simple and robust self-healing technique for millimetre-wave amplifiers

• Published in: IET circuits, devices & systems Vol. 10; no. 1; pp. 37 - 43
• Main Authors: Jia, Haikun, Chi, Baoyong, Kuang, Lixue, Wang, Zhihua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Stevenage The Institution of Engineering and Technology 01.01.2016; John Wiley & Sons, Inc
• Subjects: Algorithms; amplifier chip; Amplifiers; Boards; circuit tuning; CMOS; CMOS integrated circuits; complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor; Detectors; Devices; dielectric materials; digital control; digitally controlled artificial dielectric transmission line; Field programmable gate arrays; field-programmable gate array; frequency 56 GHz; frequency shifting detector; frequency tuning component; gain 13.66 dB to 16.26 dB; gain 2.6 dB; Gate arrays; Healing; Impedance matching; impedance matching shifting; Integrated circuits; millimetre wave amplifiers; millimetre-wave amplifier; mm-wave amplifier; Noise levels; on-chip power detector; operation frequency shifting; Robustness; self-healing technique; Semiconductors; Sensors; size 65 nm; temperature variation; Transistors; Transmission lines; Tuning; temperature variation; size 65 nm; mm-wave amplifier; field programmable gate arrays; dielectric materials; field-programmable gate array; gain 13.66 dB to 16.26 dB; amplifier chip; millimetre-wave amplifier; frequency shifting detector; CMOS integrated circuits; circuit tuning; operation frequency shifting; gain 2.6 dB; frequency tuning component; digital control; transmission lines; complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor; impedance matching; self-healing technique; millimetre wave amplifiers; frequency 56 GHz; impedance matching shifting; on-chip power detector; digitally controlled artificial dielectric transmission line
• ISSN: 1751-858X; 1751-8598; 1751-8598
• DOI: 10.1049/iet-cds.2015.0029

A simple and robust self-healing technique for millimetre-wave (mm-wave) amplifiers is proposed. The self-healing technique can correct the operation frequency shifting of the amplifier (including its input and output impedance matching shifting) due to process, voltage, and temperature variations and modelling inaccuracy. A mm-wave amplifier with digitally controlled artificial dielectric transmission lines as fine frequency tuning components and an on-chip power detector as the frequency shifting detector has been implemented in 65 nm complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor to verify the effectiveness of the technique. The operating frequency of five amplifier chips is calibrated by running the self-healing algorithm on a field-programmable gate array development board. On average, the gain of the amplifier is improved by 2.60 dB from 13.66 to 16.26 dB and the input matching is improved by 12.78 dB from −4.89 to −17.67 dB at 56 GHz after the proposed self-healing procedure.