Design and analysis of a low-power discrete phase modulator in a 0.13-μm logic CMOS process

This letter reports the design and analysis of a low-power discrete constant envelope phase modulator. The modulator discretely changes the phase of a constant envelope carrier according to the input digital data bits. A test chip was fabricated in a 0.13-μm logic complementary metal oxide semiconductor process. The modulator consumes 2mA from a 1.2-V supply, has an operating frequency range between 1.5GHz and 3.3GHz, and can support a data rate up to 225Mbps with better than 5.5% error vector magnitude. The modulator can be designed to generate different modulation schemes by digitally controlling the phase and/or amplitude of the carrier, and therefore potentially can be used in software defined radios.