4.1 A 39GHz-Band CMOS 16-Channel Phased-Array Transceiver IC with a Companion Dual-Stream IF Transceiver IC for 5G NR Base-Station Applications

TLDR

High‑data‑rate, low‑latency demands are driving millimeter‑wave 5G NR development in 28 and 39 GHz bands, yet 39 GHz CMOS phased‑array transceivers remain scarce. The study aims to deliver a cost‑effective 39 GHz 16‑channel RF phased‑array transceiver IC and a complementary dual‑stream IF transceiver IC for global 5G NR deployment. The authors implement the 39 GHz phased‑array in 28 nm CMOS and the IF transceiver in 65 nm CMOS, enabling scalable integration. The chipsets support scaling beyond 500 RF elements and dual‑stream MIMO for 5G NR base‑station use.

Abstract

Increasing demands on high-data-rate and low-latency cellular communications are accelerating the developments of millimeter-wave (mm-wave) systems for 5G NR in 28 and 39GHz bands. In order to provide the 5G communication systems worldwide, high-performance and low-cost RF chipset solutions are required. Recently, 5G mm-wave CMOS/BiCMOS RF phased-array transceivers for the 28GHz band have been reported [1]–[5]. However, there are very limited reports for the 39GHz band [6], which is one of the main frequency bands in the US, Canada, China and other countries. In this paper, we present both a 39GHz 16-channel RF phased-array transceiver IC in 28nm CMOS and a dual-stream IF transceiver IC in 65nm CMOS. These chipsets can be scaled up to >500 RF phased-array elements and support dual-stream (MIMO) in 5G NR base-station applications.