Digital beamforming transceiver design in 22 nm FD-SOI technology for 39 Ghz 5G access

Pure digital beamforming is the best strategy to address dense end-user area. However, this architecture comes with its own challenges (power consumption, extra area, extremely high I/O data rates) which often makes it considered to be a non-practical solution for antenna array integration. In this paper, we will discuss how these inherent challenges have been addressed in the development of fully integrated transceiver solution operating at 39 GHz. Low power RF front-end with Rx/Tx switching solution will be presented. Local oscillator multiplication from 13 to 39 GHz will be detailed. Efficient and high resolu¬tion data conversion will be justified and presented. Lastly, a new architectural solution addressing the issue of high-data rate transfer will be explained.