A 28-GHz eight-element phased-array receiver front-end with compact size in 65-nm CMOS technology for 5G new radio

Abstract

This article presents an 8-element 24–30-GHz phased-array receiver front-end in 65-nm CMOS technology for the millimeter-wave fifth-generation mobile network (5G). The phased-array receiver front-end is based on the radio-frequency (RF) phase-shifting architecture using RF vector-sum phase shifters with 5-bit phase resolution. The designed front-end can be easily expanded for use in large-scale phased arrays due to its compact size, low manufacturing costs, reasonable power consumption and low complexity. The post-layout simulations show a maximum single-element average gain of 12.85–15.7 dB across 5-bit phase states, with an associated noise figure (NF) of 6.15–7.5 dB and an input third-order intercept point (IIP3) value between –16.5 and –15.4 dBm. The simulated RMS gain and phase errors are less than 0.31 dB and 3°, respectively over 32 phase states and are constant over a 6-bit gain control. The designed eight-element phased-array receiver front-end has a total power consumption of 256±2.5 mW from a 1.2-V supply and occupies a small active area of 0.62 mm2.