A 20 GHz power detector with 176 mV/dB conversion gain

This paper introduces a high frequency power detector with high conversion gain for frequency-shift applications. The proposed design comprises an amplitude-to-voltage converter (AVC), a peak detector, and a bandgap. To increase the operating frequency range, AVC utilizes the half of an RMS power detector to attain the power measure of an input signal. Since the input power is converted to a DC voltage by AVC, the peak detector will secure the resonant frequency when AVC generates the highest voltage. The proposed power detector circuit is realized on silicon using a 60 V 0.25 μm CMOS technology. The post-layout simulation result shows that the proposed circuit is able to detect input frequency from 500 Hz to 20 GHz, and the conversion gain of AVC is 176 mV/dB, while the power consumption is 20 mW given a 5 V power supply voltage.