A 62 GHz Tx/Rx 2x128-Element Dual-Polarized Dual-Beam Wafer-Scale Phased-Array Transceiver with Minimal Reticle-to-Reticle Stitching

This paper presents a 62 GHz transmit/receive (TRX) dual-polarized/dual-beam wafer-scale phased-array with 2x128-elements spaced λ/2 apart in the x- and y-directions. Two reticles each containing 2x64-element arrays are stitched together in the IF/LO domain to form a super-reticle occupying an area of 21×42 mm². Each 64-element reticle-based phased-array includes RF-beam-forming TRX channels with 5-bit phase control, 9-bit gain control for each polarization, two 64:1 nested Wilkinson divider/combiners with bidirectional amplifiers, dual-transceivers with a common LO path for transmit and receive modes, and an active distribution network in the IF and LO domains to allow for tiling at the 64-element sub-array level. Also, high-efficiency quartz superstrate dipole antennas are used on the reticle to eliminate any RF transitions between the TRX channels and the antennas, resulting in a true wafer-scale array. The 2x128-element arrays scans to ±50° with side-lobe levels <;-10 dB for both polarizations, achieving 43 dBm and 41 dBm saturated EIRP for V- and H-polarizations, respectively. To our knowledge, this paper presents the first dual-polarized dual-beam large-scale transmit/receive phased-array built using a reticle stitching technique.

I. Introduction

Highly-complex and highly-integrated millimeter-wave phased-arrays in silicon technologies have become a reality over the past decade. The Wireless Gigabit Alliance (WiGig) and the new 5G standard have drawn attention the 60 GHz band, both for mobile and point-to-point applications, and there is a need for large number of elements to obtain high data-rates at large link distances ([1]–[3]).