CMOS Transmitter and PCB Probe For MMW-Transmission-Based Glucose Sensors

This article presents a CMOS transmitter and printed-circuit-board probes for micro-wave or millimeter-wave (MMW)-transmission-based glucose sensors. The CMOS transmitter is implemented using TSMC 90-nm CMOS technology while the PCB probes are implemented using Rogers RO4003C PCB. Consuming the power of 254.6 mW, the transmitter delivers the output power of 13.85–16.95/0.88–9.9 dBm over the frequency range of 32–36 GHz during the on-wafer/on-board measurement. Using the network analyzer, the MMW transmission experiments are first conducted on glucose phantoms clamped by two PCB probes. The difference between the MMW transmission losses of the two phantoms with glucose concentrations of 100 and 200 mg/dl reaches the maximum of 3.21/3.63 dB at 29.5/33 GHz over the frequency range of 28–30/32–36 GHz. Then the MMW transmission experiments are conducted again using the CMOS transmitter to apply the MMW signal while a spectrum analyzer is used to observe the received power levels. The difference between the received power levels associated with the two phantoms with glucose concentrations of 100 and 200 mg/dl reaches the maximum of 8.9 dB at 33.22 GHz over the frequency range of 32–36 GHz.