On-chip sensing and actuation methods for integrated self-healing mm-wave CMOS power amplifier

Abstract

This paper presents various low power, compact, low insertion-loss sensors with digitized ADC output and digitally controlled actuation methods for on-chip characterization and healing of a mm-Wave power amplifier. We demonstrate low insertion loss (0.4dB) RF sensors which measure true input and output power in presence of load variations and very lowheadroom (10-30mV) DC sensors with built-in regulators and thermal sensors as methods for measuring PA efficiency. All sensor outputs are digitized by a SAR-based ADC for communication with a central digital core. The paper also presents digitally controlled combiner tuning and PA bias actuation. The circuits are implemented in 45 nm SOI CMOS and enable full on-chip digitally controlled characterization and actuation of the PA with a power overhead of less than 6%.

mTunes

“…The order is stored in the policy block. [8]- [9] We propose to introduce a feedback to the policy block from the knob configurations and make the policy block contain the MDP based optimal policy π * . This can be stored in as a look up table or implemented via digital logic.…”

67‐90 GHz broadband power detector with 3 GHz output bandwidth for on‐chip test of millimeter‐wave circuits

“…To address these issues, it is necessary to revisit some of the traditional design approaches to implement high‐performance circuits and achieve high manufacture yields . A strategy that is gaining momentum consists of implementing on‐chip self‐healing and built‐in self‐test (BIST) systems, which are able to sense several characteristics of the circuit, as well as to react to optimize its performance by changing parameters like bias points and configuration of matching networks . A key element in such systems is the power detector, as it allows sensing the RF power at critical nodes of the circuit, without requiring complex and costly test setups.…”

“…A key element in such systems is the power detector, as it allows sensing the RF power at critical nodes of the circuit, without requiring complex and costly test setups. Hence, great effort has been placed on the design of integrated power detectors …”

“…4 A strategy that is gaining momentum consists of implementing on-chip self-healing and built-in self-test (BIST) systems, which are able to sense several characteristics of the circuit, as well as to react to optimize its performance by changing parameters like bias points and configuration of matching networks. [5][6][7][8][9] A key element in such systems is the power detector, as it allows sensing the RF power at critical nodes of the circuit, without requiring complex and costly test setups. Hence, great effort has been placed on the design of integrated power detectors.…”

“…Hence, great effort has been placed on the design of integrated power detectors. 5,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] Desired characteristics of power detectors include low insertion loss, compact size, and broad bandwidth. Most of the reported circuits successfully detect continuous wave (CW) or modulated signals with a narrow bandwidth.…”