A 33-37GHz Phase-Aligning Frequency Generator with $3.5^{\circ}$ Accuracy and 20ns Switching Time

This work presents a mm-wave signal generation method that provides background phase tuning and self-alignment between adjacent sources. We validate the proposed method with a 2-element prototype in a 65nm CMOS process. The prototype has a chip area of
$1.3\text{mm}\times 2\text{mn}$
and consumes a total DC power of 258mW. Chip measurements demonstrate a phase tuning range of
$140^{\circ}$
at 35GHz with
$20^{\circ}$
/step and
$< 4^{\circ}$
of RMS phase error. The measured phase switching time is 20ns. The measured phase noise at 1MHz offset is below -117dBc/Hz across the 33.5-37GHz bandwidth and the accumulated jitter is 85fs. This work provides a phase alignment technique for large-scale mm-wave phased arrays.