A 28 GHz front-end module with T/R switch achieving 17.2 dBm P-sat, 21.5% PAE(max) and 3.2 dB NF in 22 nm FD-SOI for 5G communication

Abstract

A 28 GHz front-end module (FEM) for 5G communication is implemented in 22 nm FD-SOI technology. Competitive performance for both TX and RX modes is achieved simultaneously with robustness in TX mode and ESD protection. The key for these features is the transmit/receive (T/R) switch incorporating PA circuitry, offering high linearity and robustness in TX mode, low NF in RX mode, and ESD-protection capability. The PA output stage uses a 3- stacked-FET topology to achieve high output power. Several matching techniques are implemented to equally distribute the large output voltage swing among the three stacked FETs. Psat and PAEmax in TX mode are 17.2 dBm and 21.5%, respectively. NF and IIP3 in RX mode are 3.2 dB and -5.4 dBm, respectively. With a 100 MHz bandwidth 256-QAM single-carrier signal the FEM achieves an EVM of -30 dB with average output power of 10.1 dBm and average PAE of 8.3 %. The reliability of the FEM in TX mode is assessed, demonstrating the robustness of the FEM. The ESD measurement of the FEM shows 2 kV human-body-model (HBM) ESD protection.