A Ka-Band Quadrature-Hybrid LNA-PS with Gm- Boosting Technique in 40-nm CMOS

This paper demonstrates a combination of mm- wave low noise amplifier (LNA) and active vector-modulated phase shifter (VMPS) in 40-nm CMOS technology. System considerations of noise and gain are discussed in detail. Wideband impedance conversion is realized through a passive quadrature hybrid coupler (QHC). A three-coil transformer between the variable gain amplifier (VGA) and LNA is utilized to achieve broadband impedance matching, boost transconductance and broaden the bandwidth. With 8-bit resolution, the achieved minimal root-mean-square (RMS) phase and gain errors are 0.26
^o
and 0.48dB, respectively. The overall power consumption is 139.88mW, while the working peak gain is 17.83dB and the minimal NF is 5.4dB. The proposed PS is simulated to work from 22-GHz to 40-GHz, covering the whole Ka-band. The overall area of the LNA-PS is only 0.266 mm
²
.