Tutorial: Basics of 60GHz LNA and PA Design in CMOS

This tutorial will focus on 60GHz CMOS front-end building blocks (low-noise amplifiers and power amplifiers). System specifications will be derived from high-data-rate wireless communication links, and the design of these blocks will be explained step-by-step. Fundamental metrics for noise, linearity, and impedance matching will be addressed. As mm-wave operating frequencies are relatively close to the cutoff frequency of the active devices, little design freedom is left. This inevitably limits the complexity of mm-wave circuits. Further, layout issues of these circuits are discussed, as at mm-wave frequencies the sensitivity to layout parasitics is higher compared to radio front-end circuits in the low-GHz frequency region. This requires very careful electromagnetic modeling, as several interconnects need to be modeled as on-chip integrated transmission lines.