Design of K-Band Power Amplifier with 180-Degree Phase- Shift Function Using Low-Power CMOS Process

Abstract

In this study, a K-band complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) power amplifier was designed using a low-power (LP) process to improve the integration of the beamforming system. In order to reduce the overall system size, a 180 degrees phase-shift function was mounted. It was designed in a four-stage structure to secure sufficient gain. In addition, we propose a way to secure wideband characteristics by utilizing the gains of each of the four stages. The power amplifier was designed with a 40-nm LP CMOS process to verify the feasibility of the proposed technique. The measured P-1dB for 0 degrees and 180 degrees phase-shift modes were 15.25 dBm and 14.30 dBm, respectively, at the operating frequency of 25.0 GHz. The measured phase difference between the two modes was 217 degrees at the 25.0 GHz.