60 GHz Analog Radio-Over-Fiber Single Sideband Transmitter Chipset With 55nm SiGe BiCMOS Driver RFIC and Silicon Photonics Modulator PIC

An all-silicon analog radio-over-fiber transmitter chipset is presented for narrowband operation in the unlicensed 60 GHz V-band for use in low-cost and low-power distributed antenna systems. The chipset consists of a low-noise high-speed quadrature driver RFIC and an EAM based single-sideband I/Q modulator PIC. Resonant matching is used to drive the EAMs which provides 6 dB more gain compared to an on-chip 50 O resistive termination. A further 6 dB improvement is had by placing the quadrature hybrid on the RFIC before the output stages compared to implementations that place the hybrid on the PIC. The RFIC consists of a low-noise input stage, gain stages, a hybrid coupler and two output stages while the PIC consists of parallel electro-absorption modulators and thermo-optic phase shifters. A sideband suppression ratio of 25 dB is demonstrated with a full chipset size of 1.1 mm(2) and a power consumption of 45 mW. Succesful optical back-to-back experiments were conducted using various QAM signals.

Automated summary

This article presents an all-silicon analog radio-over-fiber transmitter chipset for narrowband operation in the unlicensed 60 GHz V-band. The chipset consists of a low-noise high-speed quadrature driver RFIC and an EAM based single-sideband I/Q modulator PIC. The RFIC includes a low-noise input stage, gain stages, a hybrid coupler, and two output stages, while the PIC consists of parallel electro-absorption modulators and thermo-optic phase shifters. Optical back-to-back experiments were successfully conducted using various QAM signals, demonstrating a sideband suppression ratio of 25 dB, a chipset size of 1.1 mm², and a power consumption of 45 mW.