60-GHz Integrated-Circuit High Data Rate Quadriphase Shift Keying Exciter and Modulator (Short Papers)

An integrated-circuit quadriphase shift keying (QPSK) exciter and modulator have demonstrated excellent performance directly modulating a carrier frequency of 60 GHz with an output phase error of less than 3 degrees and maximum amplitude error of 0.5 dB. The circuit consists of a 60-GHz Gunn VCO phase-locked to a low-frequency reference source, a 4th subharmonic mixer, and a QPSK modulator packaged into a small volume of 1.8x2.5X 0.35 in. The use of microstrip has the advantages of small size, light-weight, and low-cost fabrication. The unit has the potential for multigigabit data rate applications.