CMOS, cognitive and mmW: A wireless revolution

The emergence of millimeter wave and sub-THz (up to 300GHz) CMOS based technology and its potential for true monolithic single chip integration makes the millimeter-wave spectrum more attractive than ever for supporting a new class of systems and applications ranging from ultra-high speed data transmission, video distribution, portable radar, sensing, detection and imaging of all kinds. In this paper, we present the state of the art of millimeter wave single-chip CMOS digital radio and phased array solutions. We will briefly review the market pull and review the convergence of millimeter wave CMOS digital radio, phased array technology, low power multi-gigabit mixed-signal processing and embedded phased array antenna techniques. These solutions offer the lowest energy per bit transmitted wirelessly at multi-gigabit rates to meet the very stringent low-power specifications for battery operated consumer electronic portable devices as well as Millimeter Wave Secure Body and Personal Area Network for war-fighter connectivity.