Tehrahertz CMOS Design for Low-Power and High-Speed Wireless Communication

Abstract

SUMMARY There have recently been more and more reports on CMOS integrated circuits operating at terahertz (≥ 0.1 THz) frequencies. However, design environments and techniques are not as well established as for RF CMOS circuits. This paper reviews recent progress made by the authors in terahertz CMOS design for low-power and high-speed wireless communication, including device characterization and modeling techniques. Low-power high-speed wireless data transfer at 11 Gb/s and 19 pJ/bit and a 7-pJ/bit ultra-low-power transceiver chipset are presented.

Terahertz communication: The opportunities of wireless technology beyond 5G

“…As for electronic devices, recent progress in nano-fabrication technologies facilitated the progress of semiconductor devices that function in the THz frequency band. Such devices include Gallium Arsenide and Indium Phosphide electronics [8] as well as various Silicon-based technologies [9]. Recently, the authors in [10], presented an innovative Silicon architecture, which permits its scalability, to allow signal synthesis and enable the shaping of THz waves in a single microchip.…”

An impulse radio duty-cycled radar with ultra-wideband VCO using frequency hopping technique

“…3 and 4 illustrate the proposed schematic of the VCO, and hopping frequency planning of the probing signals by digital-assisted switching and analog control voltage tuning, respectively. The PMOS-based VCO with cross couple topology lowers the flicker noise and then improves the overall phase noise [29,30].…”

Terahertz wireless communications

“…For example, at 180 GHz, a Ge-based photomixer on an Si platform can exhibit an equivalent isotropic radiated power (EIRP) of more than -15 dBm in the 170-190 GHz band [14], with the high degree of integration associated with these technologies. As for the likelihood of achieving cheap, low-consumption THz transmission links in the future, CMOS technologies have also been considered, and the transmission of several Gbps at 130 GHz has already been achieved for indoor communications [15]. As with early MODEMs and early optical transmission systems, communication in the THz range holds out the promise of high performance and new uses over the next two decades.…”