• ETRI Journal
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.638-643
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• 2013

This paper presents a 5-bit digital step attenuator (DSA) using a commercial 0.18-${\mu}m$ silicon-on-insulator (SOI) process for the wideband phased array antenna. Both low insertion loss and low root mean square (RMS) phase error and amplitude error are achieved employing two attenuation topologies of the switched path attenuator and the switched T-type attenuator. The attenuation coverage of 31 dB with a least significant bit of 1 dB is achieved at DC to 20 GHz. The RMS phase error and amplitude error are less than $2.5^{\circ}$ and less than 0.5 dB, respectively. The measured insertion loss of the reference state is less than 5.5 dB at 10 GHz. The input return loss and output return loss are each less than 12 dB at DC to 20 GHz. The current consumption is nearly zero with a voltage supply of 1.8 V. The chip size is $0.93mm{\times}0.68mm$, including pads. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a low phase error DC-to-20-GHz SOI DSA.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.3079-3085
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• 2014

This paper suggests a power level controllable frequency up-converter which is designed and fabricated using both the filtering technology consisted with only passive devices and a multi-level digital attenuator. The suggested frequency up-converter simultaneously realizes the low power consumption and the low cost model. Because of the possibility for controlling power levels, it is possible to use the suggested frequency up-converter for wide spectral range. According to the experimental results, the average gain value of 0.75dB is obtained for the bandwidth of 160MHz at the center frequency of 1,200MHz. Especially, it is confirmed that the power level can be controlled from 10 to -21.5dBm through the digital attenuator.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.693-698
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• 2018

This paper presents a true-time delay (TTD) using a commercial $0.13-{\mu}m$ CMOS process for wideband phased-array antennas without the beam squint. The proposed TTD consists of four wideband distributed gain amplifiers (WDGAs), a 7-bit TTD circuit, and a 6-bit digital step attenuator (DSA) circuit. The T-type attenuator with a low-pass filter and the WDGAs are implemented for a low insertion loss error between the reference and time-delay states, and has a flat gain performance. The overall gain and return losses are >7 dB and >10 dB, respectively, at 2 GHz-18 GHz. The maximum time delay of 198 ps with a 1.56-ps step and the maximum attenuation of 31.5 dB with a 0.5-dB step are achieved at 2 GHz-18 GHz. The RMS time-delay and amplitude errors are <3 ps and <1 dB, respectively, at 2 GHz-18 GHz. An output P1 dB of <-0.5 dBm is achieved at 2 GHz-18 GHz. The chip size is $3.3{\times}1.6mm^2$, including pads, and the DC power consumption is 370 mW for a 3.3-V supply voltage.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.571-575
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• 2017

This paper presents a C-band bi-directional T/R chipset in $0.13{\mu}m$ TSMC CMOS technology for phased array antenna. The T/R chipset, which is a key component of phased array antenna, consists of a 6 bit phase shifter, a 6 bit step attenuator, and three bi-directional gain amplifiers. The phase shifter is controlled up to $354^{\circ}$ with $5.625^{\circ}$ phase step for precise beam steering. The step attenuator is also controlled up to 31.5 dB with 0.5 dB attenuation step for the side lobe level rejection. The LDO(Low Drop Output) regulator for stable 1.2 V DC power and the SPI(Serial Peripheral Interface) for digital control are integrated in the chipset. The chip size is $2.5{\times}1.5mm^2$ including pads.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.60-68
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• 2016

This paper presents a 6~18 GHz 7-bit digital-controlled attenuator. The proposed attenuator is based on switched-T architecture, but no inductor is used for minimum chip size. The designed attenuator was fabricated using $0.18{\mu}m$ CMOS process, and characterized using on-wafer testing setup. The resolution(minimum attenuation step) and the maximum attenuation range of the attenuator were measured to be 0.22 dB and 28 dB, respectively. The measured RMS attenuation error and the RMS phase error for 6~18 GHz were less than 0.26 dB and $3.2^{\circ}$, respectively. The reference state insertion loss was less than 12.4 dB at 6~18 GHz. The measured input and output return losses were better than 9.4 dB over all frequencies and attenuation states. The chip size is $0.11mm^2$ excluding pads.