A High Linearity +44.5-dBm IP $3~C$ -Band 6-Bit Digital Phase Shifter Using SOI Technology for Phased Array Applications

Abstract

A 6-bit digital phase shifter in 0.18- $\mu \text{m}$ silicon-on-insulator (SOI) process is presented. It operates over a 4–7-GHz frequency band and provides 360° of phase coverage with 5.625° resolution using 64 phase states. The SOI phase shifter has a compact size of $1320\,\,\mu \text{m}\,\,\times 780\,\,\mu \text{m}$ . Compared to a state-of-the-art 0.15- $\mu \text{m}$ pHEMT-based product design, the SOI IC design is five times smaller in size with 2–6 dB higher IP3 and power handling capability. To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the highest IP3 of phase shifter using commercial SOI technology. These SOI monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) phase shifter characteristics are attractive for military radar and commercial phased array communication systems where cost, size, weight, and power (C-SWAP) and high linearity are required.