On-Chip Millimeter-Wave Cold-Source Noise Figure Measurements With PNA-X

This paper addresses the extension of the on-chip cold-source noise figure (NF) measurement methodology to millimeter-wave (mm-wave) integrated circuits by using the PNA-X. The proposed methodology has been successfully applied to the on-chip NF measurements of mm-wave building blocks on silicon such as a 4-b programmable 16-phase active phase shifter. The results show how the cold-source method can be extended up to the mm-wave frequency range by using the PNA-X with frequency extenders and an active frequency down-converter, so allowing satisfactory NF measurements of mm-wave integrated circuits.