Large signal characterization of millimeter wave devices using mixed signal active load-pull

Author

Galatro, L. ; Akhnoukh, A. ; Magnee, P. ; Marchetti, Mirco ; Spirito, M.

Author_Institution

Electron. Res. Lab./DIMES, Delft Univ. of Technol., Delft, Netherlands

fYear

2013

fDate

18-21 Nov. 2013

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

5

Abstract

In this paper we present the large signal measurements and model verification of SiGe BiCMOS PA cells in the 60 GHz ISM band. The characterization is performed employing a custom developed mixed signal active load-pull test-bench. The measurement system is based on a WR-15 waveguide implementation providing large signal measurement capabilities in the 50-65 GHz band. In this contribution we detail on the test-bench optimization for higher power levels and the measured system stability. A high performance SiGe BiCMOS technology is used as a test vehicle to demonstrate the capability of the mixed signal active load-pull, to evaluate device technology and to benchmark the large-signal prediction of transistor model in the mm-wave band.

Keywords

BiCMOS analogue integrated circuits; Ge-Si alloys; MMIC amplifiers; millimetre wave power amplifiers; semiconductor materials; ISM band; SiGe; device technology; frequency 50 GHz to 65 GHz; large-signal prediction; measured system stability; millimeter wave devices; mixed signal active load-pull test-bench; mm-wave band; model verification; power level; signal characterization; signal measurement capability; silicon germanium BiCMOS PA cells; transistor model; Frequency measurement; Gain measurement; Load modeling; Performance evaluation; Power measurement; Semiconductor device measurement; Standards; active load-pull; large-signal; mixed-signal; mm-wave characterization; open-loop;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Microwave Measurement Conference, 2013 82nd ARFTG

Conference_Location

Columbus, OH

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ARFTG-2.2013.6737343

Filename

6737343