Low Complexity 54–63-GHz Transmit/Receive 64- and 128-element 2-D-Scanning Phased-Arrays on Multilayer Organic Substrates With 64-QAM 30-Gbps Data Rates

Abstract

This article presents 64- and 128-element transmit/receive phased-arrays built using SiGe 2 $\times $ 2 quad-chips flipped on a multilayer organic printed-circuit board (PCB). The arrays cover 54–63 GHz with 40–45-dBm effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) in the TX mode. The antenna elements are stacked microstrip antennas spaced at $0.5\lambda $ in the horizontal plane and $0.7\lambda $ in the vertical plane at 60 GHz, resulting in a scan range of ±50° in azimuth and ±15° in elevation. A 64-QAM 30-Gbps communication link is achieved in the transmit mode when using its full instantaneous bandwidth. This article shows that it is possible to build phased-arrays at 60 GHz and beyond using simple 2 $\times $ 2 quad-chips with low antenna distribution loss, and not using complex chips with 16–32 antenna connections and high distribution loss. Applications include high data-rate point-to-multipoint links, reconfigurable mesh networks, and automotive radars.