Low Power Wideband Receiver and Transmitter Chipset for mm-Wave Imaging in SiGe Bipolar Technology

This paper presents a chipset aiming at high resolution imaging systems for real-time people screening applications operating near the W-band. The frequency of operation ranges from 70 GHz to 82 GHz for optimal image resolution and depth of focus. The frequency generation for both receiver and transmitter chips consists of a mixer based frequency quadrupler with an input amplifier requiring -20 dBm of input power. The receiver RFIC contains 4 channels including LO generation and distribution. The measured receiver conversion gain is 23 dB with a SSB NF around 10 dB over a wide frequency range from 70 GHz up to 82 GHz. The transmitter RFIC includes LO generation, distribution and 4 output amplifiers with an output power of more than 0 dBm in a frequency range from 70 GHz to 82 GHz. Both ICs are supplied from a single 3.3 V supply voltage and the power consumption is 180 mW/channel for the receiver and 145 mW/channel for the transmitter.