Co-design of on-chip antennas and circuits for a UNII band monolithic transceiver

For the first time, a UNII band monolithic transceiver with two on-chip antennas has been demonstrated. The complete chip, sized 3 mm2, is the smallest reported for such a configuration. The antenna on the TX side performs double duty by providing the inductance to the VCO resonant tank. On the other hand, the RX side antenna has been conjugate matched to the LNA. Through a co-design strategy, the circuits have been placed inside the antennas to demonstrate an efficient use of the chip-space. Both antennas have been characterized for their radiation properties through a custom on-wafer measurement setup. Many layout challenges have been highlighted for such an integrated design.