A 44 GHz low noise block downconvertor MMIC suitable for EHF satellite communication applications

Author

Barnes, A.R. ; Bannister, D.C. ; Moore, M.T.

Author_Institution

Defence Evaluation Res. Agency, Malvern, UK

fYear

1998

fDate

11-8 June 1998

Firstpage

223

Lastpage

226

Abstract

A multifunction MMIC, containing the core components required for an EHF satellite communications receiver, operating over 43.5 to 45.5 GHz, has been designed and tested. The circuit has been fabricated using a high yield, commercially available, 0.25 /spl mu/m PHEMT GaAs-InGaAs-AlGaAs foundry process at GEC Marconi Materials Technology Ltd. The multifunction MMIC integrates a low noise amplifier, downconvertor, local oscillator doubler and buffer amplifier onto a single chip occupying an area of 3.0/spl times/3.8 mm/sup 2/. Successful performance was achieved for a first pass iteration, namely 4.3 dB noise figure and 5 to 8 dB conversion gain with a low local oscillator (LO) drive level of 0 dBm.

Keywords

HEMT integrated circuits; III-V semiconductors; MMIC frequency convertors; aluminium compounds; field effect MIMIC; gallium arsenide; indium compounds; integrated circuit design; integrated circuit yield; iterative methods; millimetre wave frequency convertors; satellite communication; 0.25 micron; 4.3 dB; 43.5 to 45.5 GHz; 5 to 8 dB; EHF satellite communication applications; GaAs-InGaAs-AlGaAs; III-V semiconductors; PHEMT; block downconvertor MMIC; buffer amplifier; conversion gain; first pass iteration; local oscillator doubler; local oscillator drive level; low noise amplifier; yield; Circuit noise; Circuit testing; Foundries; Local oscillators; Low-noise amplifiers; MMICs; Materials science and technology; Noise figure; PHEMTs; Satellite communication;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFIC) Symposium, 1998 IEEE

Conference_Location

Baltimore, MD, USA

ISSN

1097-2633

Print_ISBN

0-7803-4439-1

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/RFIC.1998.682085

Filename

682085