Super Compact Miniaturization of CMOS RFICs Using Synthetic Quasi-TEM Transmission Lines

In this paper, a 90o hybrid, a 180o hybrid, a low noise amplifier (LNA) and an active bandpass filter (BPF) are fabricated and tested at X-band in 0.18-mum 1P6M bulk CMOS technology. The area-consuming transmission lines (TLs) and inductors of the RFICs are implemented by the meandered complementary-conducting-strips (CCS) TLs. The meandered CCS TLs demonstrate miniaturized designs such as the 90deg hybrid and the rat-race hybrid with 95% and 98% size reduction compared to the prototype designs, respectively. Moreover, the active circuits including LNA and active BPF show compact designs and maintain good electrical performance.