Ultra-low-power, small footprint, 120 GHz, CMOS radio transmitter with on-chip antenna for Internet of Things (IoT)

Abstract

The paper presents the design of a 65nm CMOS low-power transmitter (Tx) as subsystem of an IoT transceiver (TRx). The Tx has no power amplifier (PA), Phase-locked loop (PLL) or external crystal. An on-chip resonator provides frequency accuracy. The Tx employs a novel, low-voltage modified Colpitts oscillator working at 60 GHz and a frequency doubler to generate On-Off-Keying (OOK) data on a 120 GHz carrier. For low power, the frequency doubler reuses VCO's current to deliver a −20dBm signal in 50 Q load. The 120 GHz antenna was integrated on chip.