40 GHz VCO and Frequency Divider in 28 nm FD-SOI CMOS Technology for Automotive Radar Sensors

Giorgio Maiellaro,Mauro Giacomini,Giovanni Caruso,Angelo Scuderi,Salvatore Scaccianoce

doi:10.3390/electronics10172114

Giorgio Maiellaro, Mauro Giacomini + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics10172114

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Journal: Electronics	Publication Date: Aug 31, 2021
Citations: 2	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: STMicroelectronics (Italy)

Abstract

This paper presents a 40 GHz voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) and frequency divider chain fabricated in STMicroelectronics 28 nm ultrathin body and box (UTBB) fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) complementary metal-oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) process with eight metal layers back-end-of-line (BEOL) option. VCOs architecture is based on an LC-tank with p-type metal-oxide–semiconductor (PMOS) cross-coupled transistors. VCOs exhibit a tuning range (TR) of 3.5 GHz by exploiting two continuous frequency tuning bands selectable via a single control bit. The measured phase noise (PN) at 38 GHz carrier frequency is −94.3 and −118 dBc/Hz at 1 and 10 MHz frequency offset, respectively. The high-frequency dividers, from 40 to 5 GHz, are made using three static CMOS current-mode logic (CML) Master-Slave D-type Flip-Flop stages. The whole divider factor is 2048. A CMOS toggle flip-flop architecture working at 5 GHz was adopted for low frequency dividers. The power dissipation of the VCO core and frequency divider chain are 18 and 27.8 mW from 1.8 and 1 V supply voltages, respectively. Circuit functionality and performance were proved at three junction temperatures (i.e., −40, 25, and 125 °C) using a thermal chamber.

Highlights

The high pressure for realizing a low-cost, low-power, highly integrated radar systemon-chip (SoC) featuring digital processing functionalities establishes the way for advanced deep-submicron complementary metal-oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) technologies, which allow for the design of millimeter-wave front-end circuits embedded with a high-performance digital signal processor, high-resolution analog-to-digital converters, and high-speed baseband to radio frequency interfaces, together with memory [1,2,3]
Modern radar sensors are based on a frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) transmitted signal, whose characteristics such as linearity, modulation bandwidth, chirp duration, and phase noise (PN) are key parameters to determine range, velocity, and angle estimation of surrounding objects, complying with an advanced driver assistant system and autonomous driving requirements [4]
This paper describes the design and performance of a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) designed in 28 nm ultrathin body and box (UTBB) fully depleted siliconon-insulator (FD-SOI) CMOS technology

Summary

Introduction

The high pressure for realizing a low-cost, low-power, highly integrated radar systemon-chip (SoC) featuring digital processing functionalities establishes the way for advanced deep-submicron CMOS technologies, which allow for the design of millimeter-wave (mmwave) front-end circuits embedded with a high-performance digital signal processor, high-resolution analog-to-digital converters, and high-speed baseband to radio frequency interfaces, together with memory [1,2,3].Modern radar sensors are based on a frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) transmitted signal, whose characteristics such as linearity, modulation bandwidth, chirp duration, and PN are key parameters to determine range, velocity, and angle estimation of surrounding objects, complying with an advanced driver assistant system and autonomous driving requirements [4]. 1. Introduction The high pressure for realizing a low-cost, low-power, highly integrated radar systemon-chip (SoC) featuring digital processing functionalities establishes the way for advanced deep-submicron CMOS technologies, which allow for the design of millimeter-wave (mmwave) front-end circuits embedded with a high-performance digital signal processor, high-resolution analog-to-digital converters, and high-speed baseband to radio frequency interfaces, together with memory [1,2,3]. The modulation bandwidth is covered by the analog-continuous VCO tuning range; a radar system with a range resolution as low as 10 cm, that is, a typical value of medium- and short-range radar, requires a modulation bandwidth of 1.5 GHz. the design of a wide tuning range VCO is detrimental for phase noise performance.

Results

Conclusion