60 GHz radio design challenges

There exists a multitude of multimedia applications calling for wireless transmission over short distances for applications such as high-speed point-to-point data links or personal area networking. The required data rate for these applications may be hundreds of megabits per second. Existing wireless systems such as third-generation cellular systems, will not be able to cope with data rates in excess of 2 Mb/s and others such as WLAN 802.11g can provide only zip to 55 Mb/s. This demand for higher bit rates has promoted intense activity leading to the development of technologies and devices that are capable of operation in of the 60 GHz ISM band. In this paper we present the design challenges facing development of 60 GHz wireless system from technology and radio architecture to circuit design.