A Compact 24–30-GHz GaN Front-End Module With Coupled-Resonator-Based Transmit/Receive Switch for 5G Millimeter-Wave Applications

IF 4.1 1区工程技术 Q2 ENGINEERING, ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC

IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques Pub Date : 2025-01-29 DOI:10.1109/TMTT.2025.3530435

Dingyuan Zeng;Haoshen Zhu;Guangxu Shen;Qi Cai;Outong Gao;Wenquan Che;Quan Xue

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This article presents a wideband front-end module (FEM) topology with integrated transmit/receive (T/R) switch utilizing a matching network (MN) reuse technique. The output MN (OMN) of the power amplifier (PA) and the input MN (IMN) of the low noise amplifier (LNA) are reused in the switch network co-design, enabling T/R switching and impedance transformation simultaneously. In TX mode, a switchless MN incorporating RX reactance is employed to improve the output power and efficiency. In RX mode, the OMN of the PA serves as an extra resonant tank and can be absorbed into the RX MN to enhance RX bandwidth and noise performance. To validate the proposed FEM topology, we implemented a 24–30-GHz FEM for 5G millimeter-wave (mmWave) applications using a commercial 0.15-

$\mu $

m gallium nitride (GaN) high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) process. The TX branch achieves a small-signal gain greater than 17 dB, a 14.5%–17% saturated power-added efficiency (PAE), and 27.4–29.5-dBm saturated output power. The average output power, measured at an error vector magnitude (EVM) of less than −25 dB, is 21.9 dBm with an average PAE of 4%. The RX branch demonstrates a small-signal gain of 18.5 dB, a noise figure (NF) of less than 4.4 dB, and an OP

$_{\text {1, dB}}$

of 12 dBm. In addition, the chip area is only

$2.1\times 2.6$

mm.

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来源期刊

IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques 工程技术-工程：电子与电气

CiteScore

8.60

自引率

18.60%

发文量

486

审稿时长

6 months

期刊介绍： The IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques focuses on that part of engineering and theory associated with microwave/millimeter-wave components, devices, circuits, and systems involving the generation, modulation, demodulation, control, transmission, and detection of microwave signals. This includes scientific, technical, and industrial, activities. Microwave theory and techniques relates to electromagnetic waves usually in the frequency region between a few MHz and a THz; other spectral regions and wave types are included within the scope of the Society whenever basic microwave theory and techniques can yield useful results. Generally, this occurs in the theory of wave propagation in structures with dimensions comparable to a wavelength, and in the related techniques for analysis and design.