Abstract
For ultra-high speed communication systems at high center frequencies above 100 GHz, we propose a disruptive change in system architecture to address major issues regarding amplifier chains with a large number of amplifier stages. They cause a high noise figure and high power consumption when operating close to the frequency limits of the underlying semiconductor technologies. Instead of scaling a classic homodyne transceiver system, we employ repeated amplification in single-stage amplifiers through positive feedback as well as synthesizer-free self-mixing demodulation at the receiver to simplify the system architecture notably. Since the amplitude and phase information for the emerging oscillation is defined by the input signal and the oscillator is only turned on for a very short time, it can be left unstabilized and thus come without a PLL. As soon as gain is no longer the most prominent issue, relaxed requirements for all the other major components allow reconsidering their implementation concepts to achieve further improvements compared to classic systems. This paper provides the first comprehensive overview of all major design aspects that need to be addressed upon realizing a SPARS-based transceiver. At system level, we show how to achieve high data rates and a noise performance comparable to classic systems, backed by scaled demonstrator experiments. Regarding the transmitter, design considerations for efficient quadrature modulation are discussed. For the frontend components that replace PA and LNA amplifier chains, implementation techniques for regenerative sampling circuits based on super-regenerative oscillators are presented. Finally, an analog-to-digital converter with outstanding performance and complete interfaces both to the analog baseband as well as to the digital side completes the set of building blocks for efficient ultra-high speed communication.
Funding statement: This work was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG – priority program SPP 1655, grants WE 1299/27-1, VO 1453/14-1, EL 506/9-1, BE 2256/19-1) within the project “Development of Novel System and Component Architectures for Future Innovative 100 Gbit/s Communication Systems”.
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© 2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- Challenges and Ideas to Achieve Wireless 100 Gb/s Transmission: An Overview of Challenges and Solutions within the German Research Foundation (DFG) Special Priority Program SPP1655
- Special Issue articles
- Optimization of Wireless Transceivers under Processing Energy Constraints
- High Throughput Line-of-Sight MIMO Systems for Next Generation Backhaul Applications
- 100 Gbps Wireless System and Circuit Design Using Parallel Spread-Spectrum Sequencing
- Real100G.RF: A Fully Packaged 240 GHz Transmitter with In-Antenna Power Combining in 0.13 μm SiGe Technology
- Protocol Processing for 100 Gbit/s and Beyond – A Soft Real-Time Approach in Hardware and Software
- Ultra-Wideband Massive MIMO Communications Using Multi-mode Antennas
- Efficient Ultra-High Speed Communication with Simultaneous Phase and Amplitude Regenerative Sampling (SPARS)
- Dual-Polarized Antenna Arrays with CMOS Power Amplifiers for SiP Integration at W-Band
- On-Chip Integrated Distributed Amplifier and Antenna Systems in SiGe BiCMOS for Transceivers with Ultra-Large Bandwidth
- Photonic-Assisted mm-Wave and THz Wireless Transmission towards 100 Gbit/s Data Rate
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- Challenges and Ideas to Achieve Wireless 100 Gb/s Transmission: An Overview of Challenges and Solutions within the German Research Foundation (DFG) Special Priority Program SPP1655
- Special Issue articles
- Optimization of Wireless Transceivers under Processing Energy Constraints
- High Throughput Line-of-Sight MIMO Systems for Next Generation Backhaul Applications
- 100 Gbps Wireless System and Circuit Design Using Parallel Spread-Spectrum Sequencing
- Real100G.RF: A Fully Packaged 240 GHz Transmitter with In-Antenna Power Combining in 0.13 μm SiGe Technology
- Protocol Processing for 100 Gbit/s and Beyond – A Soft Real-Time Approach in Hardware and Software
- Ultra-Wideband Massive MIMO Communications Using Multi-mode Antennas
- Efficient Ultra-High Speed Communication with Simultaneous Phase and Amplitude Regenerative Sampling (SPARS)
- Dual-Polarized Antenna Arrays with CMOS Power Amplifiers for SiP Integration at W-Band
- On-Chip Integrated Distributed Amplifier and Antenna Systems in SiGe BiCMOS for Transceivers with Ultra-Large Bandwidth
- Photonic-Assisted mm-Wave and THz Wireless Transmission towards 100 Gbit/s Data Rate