A 128-element 54-63 GHz 2-Dimensional Tx/Rx Phased-Array with 64-QAM/30 Gbps Communication Links

This paper presents a 128-element 8×16 transmit/receive phased-array fabricated using 2×2 transmit/receive SiGe beamformer chips flipped on a multilayer organic laminate. The array covers 54-63 GHz with an effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) of 45-46 dBm in the TX mode. The elements are dual-stacked patch antennas with a spacing of 0.5λ on the horizontal axis and 0.7λ on the vertical axis at 60 GHz, resulting in a scan angle of +/- 50° in azimuth and +/- 15° in elevation. Each beamformer chip contains four channels and drives a 2×2 unit cell of antennas. The channels have an output P_sat of 0 dBm in transmit mode and receive noise figure of 6.5 dB. The phased-array can achieve a 30 Gbps communication link in transmit mode at 1 m distance when using its full instantaneous bandwidth. Applications include high data-rate point-to-multipoint links and reconfigurable mesh networks.