A D-band (110-170 GHz) ultra high data rate link is presented and characterized. The circuits are realized in a commercial 130 nm silicon germanium (SiGe) BiCMOS process. The 3-dB bandwidth for both transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) is between 125 -165 GHz, resulting in a 40 GHz bandwidth. The communication link has demonstrated transmissions up to 102 Gbps using 8-phase shift keying (PSK) modulation over a one meter long foam-cladded polymer microwave fiber (PMF) with a bit error rate (BER) of 2.1 $\times10^{-3}$ . Using direct quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), 56 Gbps was reached with a BER $<10^{-12}$ . Total chip area for Tx and Rx combined, including pads, is 4.2 mm $^2$ .

A chipset for high datarate polymer microwave fiber (PMF) communication is described. It consist of a PAM-4 RF-DAC and power detector (PD) and is fabricated using a commercial 130 nm SiGe BiCMOS process. A link measurement is performed over a one meter long PMF verifying that the link can support data rates up to 20 Gbps using PAM-4, with a bit error rate (BER) of <10−12. The RF-DAC covers frequencies between 120–160 GHz, with a peak output power of 4 dBm. It has a stacked transistor pair as core and includes a frequency doubler at the LO input and a three stage amplifier at the output. The PD includes an amplifier and an active balun to suppress the fundamental frequency. Both circuits occupy only 1.54 mm2 combined, including pads. The high data-rate, energy efficiency, low cost and robustness of the link makes is suitable for short range (< 10 meters) device-to-device communication.

An Amplitude Modulated Continuous Wave (AMCW) radar system is proposed that uses both the phase from the envelope and carrier to achieve micrometer accuracy distance measurement. The system has the benefit of using only two frequencies instead of an entire frequency band which is the case with FMCW radars. Many radar systems can therefore be used in a small area without risking interference. An experimental radar setup at 78 GHz is measured and verified to have a measurement error magnitude of less than 10 micrometer. This system is suitable for modern manufacturing and industry.

This article reports on Si/AlGaN/GaN HEMT MMICs for $W$ -band frequency generation. A $Ka$ -band voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), a $W$ -band frequency tripler, and a $W$ -band frequency quadrupler are designed to reach good phase noise, output power, and harmonic rejection in the $W$ -band. The VCO presents an experimental frequency tuning range of 21.8–25.2 GHz, and it enables direct integration with a commercial phase-locked loop (PLL). The tripler exhibits a peak output power of 3 dBm with a 3-dB bandwidth between 90-and 108-GHz output frequencies. The quadrupler, which is based on the integration of two doublers, one interstage buffer amplifier and a two-stage output buffer amplifier, achieves more than 10-dBm output power and better than 25-dB harmonics suppression over the frequency range of 89–100 GHz. The VCO and the quadrupler are also integrated into a fully integrated $W$ -band signal source with a frequency tuning range from 91.6 to 100.3 GHz and an output power of 12–16 dBm. Typical phase noise of $-$ 126 dBc/Hz is measured at 10-MHz offset from the carrier. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the highest integration level reported for a $W$ -band signal source in GaN HEMT MMIC technology. In addition, state-of-the-art far-carrier phase noise for $W$ -band signal sources based on integrated resonators is presented.

A PAM-4 modulator is designed and fabricated in a \pmb0.25 μm indium phosphide (InP) double heterojunction bipolar transistor (DHBT) technology. The modulator is verified to have a 3-dB bandwidth of 60-90 GHz and a peak output power of -5 dBm at 75 GHz. This modulator can support 40 Gbps data transmission with a bit error rate of 3.7 ×10 ^-6 , the energy efficiency is better than 1.2 pJ/bit. This modulator is suitable for application such as low power, short range, ultra high data rate wireless communication.

In this work a high data rate transmitter and receiver link is presented using a 130 nm SiGe BiCMOS process. The communication link has demonstrated transmissions up to 40 Gbps QAM-16 at D-band (110–170 GHz) over a one meter polymer microwave fiber (PMF). The peak output power of the transmitter (Tx) is 3 dBm at 135 GHz and the 3-dB bandwidth of both Tx and receiver (Rx) is between 115 – 145 GHz, resulting in a 30 GHz bandwidth. Total chip area for Tx and Rx combined, including pads, is 4.2 mm².