Ultra low consumption UWB pulsed-ILO RF front-end transmitter at 60 GHz in 65-nm CMOS-SOI

A super high order sub-harmonic pulsed-ILO at 60 GHz in 65-nm CMOS-SOI has been fully designed and tested. It occupies 0.16 mm² active area in 65-nm CMOS-SOI. Input digital locking signal modulates the oscillator at 60 GHz from ON to OFF state using a current source. Thus, the millimeter wave oscillation does not start from the thermal noise but from one of the numerous harmonic components of the pulse generator synthesized in the locking millimeter band. The theoretical 20 log(N) increase phase noise has been verified measuring the output millimeter wave signal jitter and phase noise (-92 dBc/Hz at 100 KHz). As a consequence, a stable pulse to pulse phase condition is reached, making this sub-harmonic pulsed-ILO suitable for automobile radar, Giga-bit WLAN, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) and localization with an optimized consumption. Its peak power output is 5 dBm under a 1.4 V 16 mA bias. At OFF state, the dc current consumption is negligible. The equivalent sinus peak output power is 4 dBm, leading to a peak efficiency of 14%. As a consequence, the global efficiency of the RF front-end transmitter is less than 4 pJ/pulse.