Research On Low-Noise Amplifiers For Broadband Satellite Communication And Millimeter-Wave 5G Communication

Recently,high-frequency communication systems such as broadband satellite communica-tion(SATCOM)and millimeter-wave(mm-Wave)5G communication have developed rapidly.Phased array technology can effectively improve the transmitter(TX)effective isotropically radiated power(EIRP)and the receiver(RX)signal-to-noise ratio(SNR).It is the enabling technology for far-distance wireless communication at high frequencies.The requirements of fast electrical scannability,far-distance coverage,and low cost promote the application of large-scale phased array based on silicon ICs.As the key building block in the RX,low-noise ampli-fier(LNA)dominates the noise figure(NF)and sensitivity of the receiver.Hence,high-gain,low-NF,wideband,and low-power LNA is essential in phased-array RX.This dissertation focuses on LNAs for broadband SATCOM and mm-Wave 5G commu-nication.Several techniques are proposed to improve the performances of LNAs.Based on CMOS and Ga As technologies,several LNAs are designed and fabricated.The LNA perfor-mances are completely evaluated to verify the effectiveness of the proposed techniques.To satisfy the requirement of large-scale phased-array RX for high-performance low-power LNA,a novel ultra-low-power LNA using g_m-boost and current-reuse techniques is proposed.A well-rounded analysis of the g_m-boost transformer is performed and the optimum solution to the coupling coefficient is proposed for the first time.A well-rounded analysis of the magnetically coupled resonator(MCR)is performed and a novel design strategy to achieve low-loss low-ripple MCR is proposed.A K-band LNA for the SATCOM ground terminal is designed and fabricated in 65-nm CMOS.The LNA achieves 14.9-d B gain,3.3-d B NF and consumes only1.9-m W DC power,leading to the higher Fo M and the lowest power consumption compared with prior-art silicon-based K-band LNAs.To address the RX compression due to strong interferer,a novel compact notch filter is proposed.Through circuit transformation and mathematical derivation of the 3-coil transformer in the proposed notch filter,a comprehensive design methodology is proposed.A Ku-band LNA for the SATCOM ground terminal is designed and fabricated in 65-nm CMOS.Based on the proposed compact MCR-integrated notch filter,the LNA achieves 19.5-d B gain,2.3-d B NF and over 50-d B interferer rejection.To address the deterioration of TX efficiency and output power,as well as RX NF,caused by the insertion loss of RF T/R switches,a novel switchless RF frond end is proposed.The T/R switching is achieved by changing the DC voltage of the power amplifier(PA)and LNA.The topology and size of the amplifiers are reasonably selected for the T/R matching network sharing.A switchless PA-LNA frond end for mm-Wave 5G communication is designed and fabricated in 40-nm CMOS.The front end achieves 24.6%PAE and 4.5-d B NF.To address the relatively high NF of CMOS RX at mm-Wave frequencies,a compact Ga As LNA is designed and fabricated.The LNA exhibits 7.9-dB gain and 1-dB NF,which can be utilized in the hybrid-packaged receiver to improve the NF.