A Scalable Multi-Chip Self-Aligning Ka-Band Phased Array

This work presents a scalable phased array architecture based on background phase alignment between its nearest neighbors. We implement the proposed interferometric phase monitoring scheme in a multi-chip array configuration with chip-to-chip bonding between adjacent modules. The prototype $1\times 7$ phased array consists of 7 transmitter chips and 6 control chips all fabricated in the TSMC $65\mathrm{n}\mathrm{m}$ CMOS process. The die areas of the two modules are $0.86\mathrm{m}\mathrm{m}^{2}$ and $0.41\mathrm{m}\mathrm{m}^{2}$, respectively. The array demonstrates a measured ± 30° beam steering consistent with 210° measured phase tuning range between adjacent neighbors. The transmitter phase noise is-114.6dBc/Hz at 1MHz offset at 30GHz and operates across a 16.7% fractional bandwidth. To the best of our knowledge, this work presents the first scalable self-aligning and beam steering mm-wave phased array.