20 GHz bipolar RF RMS power detectors

A peak/RMS power detector with up to 20 GHz bandwidth and /spl ges/ 40 dB dynamic range is presented. The design is based on cascading several stages of attenuators and detectors. Analysis shows that the Meyer detector, originally developed as a peak detector, can be used for RMS detection over an approximately 20 dB range, comparable to the popular RF/microwave diode detector. The new cascaded structure extends the dynamic range for RMS detection, providing a circuit suitable for applications including embedded RFIC test.