A 35mW, 2.32dB NF, 1.1° Phase Error, 18-21.2GHz Beamforming Receiver IC for Satcom on the Move (SOTM) Phased Arrays

This brief presents a low-power and low-noise K-band (18-21.2GHz) analog beamforming receiver (BFIC-Rx) IC for Satcom on the Move (SOTM) applications. The BFIC-Rx employs a 2-stage cascode LNA, a modified Gilbert-cell type dB-linear VGA and a passive phase shifter (PS) in the signal chain for low cascaded noise figure (NF) and low power consumption. The cascode LNA has low NF and a high gain of 24dB for RF input isolation to the subsequent stages. The VGA has a 15dB dB-linear gain, controllable in 0.5dB fine steps, and a 180° phase shift feature. The passive PS has 5-bit control plus 2 bits for calibration and together with VGA’s 180°, achieves a total phase shift of 360°. The BFIC-Rx achieves a state-of-art NF of 2.32dB, a total signal gain of 31dB, IP1dB of −35.8 dBm, phase, and amplitude error of 1.1° and < 0.5dB respectively while consuming only 35mW from a 1.8V supply ${\text{@}}~19.5$ GHz. The BFIC-Rx was fabricated on a 130nm SiGe process and occupies a core area of $1.5 \times 0.8$ mm2. The low NF, high signal gain, and low power are critical parameters to enable large-scale efficient phased arrays for SOTM applications in the toughest conditions.