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IBM: Integration Key to 2Gbit/s Transceiver over 60GHz
By Harry Yeates -- Electronics Weekly, 2/17/2006
IBM has released more details of its wireless transceiver chipset capable of carrying data at up to 2Gbit/s in the 60GHz ISM band.
The company said its compact device, built using a 0.13µm SiGe BiCMOS process, could be used for high bandwidth applications such as wireless Gigabit Ethernet and HDTV streaming.
The millimeter wave portion of the spectrum can theoretically support large quantities of data more effectively than lower frequencies, and 60GHz is not subject to differing national regulations, but achieving good integration of devices working in that range is tricky. The IBM chips measure 3.3x1.7mm² (Rx) and 4.0x1.6mm² (Tx).
“I think 60GHz has a very broad application set with plenty of room to grow given the world wide spectrum allocation and where silicon can take it,” said Brian Gaucher, research staff manager at IBM Research.
“The power consumption of our transmitter, which is everything from the I/Q baseband input to the transmit output at full power with antenna, PLL/VCO, filters etcetera is about 800mW. Likewise the receiver is about 525mW.”
Both the transmitter and receiver integrate a 7dBi folded-dipole antenna in the package, and tests have shown that when carrying a QSPK-OFDM modulated signal at 630Mbit/s over 10m they generate no errors.
Gaucher also said that there is significant flexibility in the regulations at 60GHz, which meant transmit powers of up to 10mW are currently being investigated.
High bandwidth wireless technologies currently being developed include ultra wideband (UWB) and 802.11n, the latest version of Wi-Fi.
However, the target data rates of both (480Mbit/s and 150-200Mbit/s, respectively) are significantly lower than that of the IBM device, and UWB is restricted to short (10m) range operation and non-uniform worldwide regulations.
Of the various difficulties involved in working with millimeter waves on chip, Gaucher said that integrating the whole system was the hardest task.
“Actually integrating the constituent components like the low noise amplifier, mixer, filters, IFVG and baseband all together and getting it right nearly the first time was the biggest challenge,” said Gaucher.
IBM said it is not planning to put the technology into a product, but will work with partners instead. The hardware is currently being evaluated by a number of customers.
Electronics Weekly is the London-based sister publication of Electronic News.
