A 200-GHz Four-Element Phased-Array Receiver System-in-Package Using HTCC Technology for Sub-Terahertz Communications

This article presents a novel 200-GHz four-element phased-array receiver system-in-package (SiP) using high-temperature co-fired ceramic (HTCC) technology for wireless communications. The receiver employs a local oscillator (LO) phase-shifting architecture to realize sub-terahertz (THz) beamforming. All components of the front-end array are heterogeneously integrated within the HTCC. To achieve low-loss interconnection and 3-D integration, quartz substrates and vertical air-filled waveguides are incorporated within the HTCC. Meanwhile, an electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) structure is introduced in the vertical transitions to mitigate energy leakage caused by assembly gaps, thus reducing the sensitivity to assembly errors. Besides, a highly efficient parabolic reflector antenna array with a multilayered structure is designed for beam scanning. The overall size of the front-end package is 40.7 $\times $ 43 $\times $ 7.3 mm3. The measured channel gain is 8.2–23 dB from 194.5 to 234.5 GHz (18.6% bandwidth), and the measured lower-sideband noise figure is 7.5–9.4 dB, covering from 196 to 215 GHz. The phased-array receiver can achieve a scanning range of ±30° in the ${E}$ -plane. To evaluate its over-the-air (OTA) performance, a wireless link is demonstrated with 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) and 64-QAM waveforms, achieving a maximum data rate of 32 Gbps.

I. Introduction

Sub-Terahertz (THz) waves possess the advantages of broad bandwidth, short wavelength, and high penetration, making them promising for applications in high-speed communication, high-resolution imaging, and biomolecular spectroscopy [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6]. However, due to the high path loss of sub-THz signals, especially in frequency bands above 200 GHz, it is necessary to employ phased-array transceivers to efficiently enhance antenna gain and equivalent isotropic radiated power (EIRP). Meanwhile, phased-array transceivers, owing to their electronic scanning capabilities, can cover a wide angular region, making them suitable for wireless communication coverage [7], [8].