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In this paper we introduce, a state-of-the-art SiGe BiCMOS power amplifier technology that features two NPNs with 40 GHz / 6.0 V & 27 GHz / 8.5 V (fT -BVceo) respectively, a novel low inductance metal ground through-silicon-via (TSV), integrated on a low-cost 0.35 ,um lithography node with 3.3 V / 5.0 V dualgate CMOS technology and high-quality passives on a 50 Q.cm substrate. INTRODUCTIONToday for RF radio applications, the system is partitioned to minimize the overall cost, size, and power. Competing approaches with system-on-a-chip and system-in-a-package effectively address this system partitioning. Based on these approaches, the RF transceiver and front-end-modules (FEM) integration is still a battleground for multiple technologies. Of particular interest is the power amplifier (PA) integration trend. Compared to the transceiver, the FEM elements, such as, PA and switch need to support very harsh environment for power and linearity. Stringent system specifications requirements related to output power, linearity, efficiency etc. force system designers to partition the FEM as a separate packaged module. In effect, this allows the use of best possible technology for the lowest cost module [1]. This situation is expected to get worse in future wireless communication systems where the FEMs need to integrate multi-mode and multi-band PAs with better form-factor and cost. Silicon technology remains as an excellent candidate for providing such an integration path. SiGe BiCMOS has made substantial in-road into PA market segment with the explosion of WLAN applications at 2.4 GHz. A 0.5um SiGe BiCMOS technology [2] optimized for power amplifier design has provided a stepping stone for this application. SiGe BiCMOS integration allows several benefits compared to GaAs HBTs, such as, integrated biasing and regulator to manage battery voltage, temperature compensated

A new four-port scattering parameter (-parameter) and broad-band noise deembedding methodology is presented. This deembedding technique considers distributed on-wafer parasitics in the millimeter-wave band (30 GHz). The procedure is based on simple analytical calculations and requires no equivalent circuit modeling or electromagnetic simulations. Detailed four-port system analysis and deembedding expressions are derived. Comparisons between this new method and the industry-standard "open-short" method were made using measured and simulated data on state-of-the-art SiGe HBTs with a maximum cutoff frequency of approximately 180 GHz. The comparison demonstrates that better accuracy is achieved using this new four-port method. Based on a combination of measurements and HP-ADS simulations, we also show that this new technique can be used to accurately extract the-parameters and broad-band noise characteristics to frequencies above 100 GHz.

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