PVT Robust Passive Phase Shifter for 5G MIMO Applications

Integrated Ka-Band phase shifter with near-constant insertion-loss for 5G phased array applications is presented in this paper. The differential phase shifter design is based on variable artificial transmission line with digitally tuned inductance and capacitance per unit cell. The IC occupies area of 840 × 840 μm
²
and was fabricated in 0.12 μm SiGe BiCMOS process, using CMOS features only. The measured results show insertion loss of 10.2±0.15 dB and phase RMS error of 1.2° at 38.5 GHz with zero power consumption. The phase tuning range is larger than 180 degrees at 37-40 GHz. Excellent PVT robustness is demonstrated over multiple wafer sites, making it suitable for integration in large-scale arrays.