A phase and amplitude control front end chip in SiGe for phased-array C-band radar applications

Abstract

This paper describes the first design run and measured results of a SiGe phase and amplitude controlling circuit for use in phased-array radar applications. The circuit was designed as a GaAs replacement study and results show that standard silicon germanium processes have sufficient performance to comply with radar requirements. MCM cost was the initial driver for this work and the possibility to integrate digital functions may prove to be the number one key factor to reduce this compared to GaAs based solutions.