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The output power level and the power conversion efficiency (PCE) rate of the energy-harvesting systems are vital factors in realizing effective millimeter-wave wireless power transfer solutions that can power battery-less and charge coil-free smart everyday objects. Two 60-GHz energy harvesters that use a tuned complementary cross-coupled oscillator-like rectifying circuitry in 40-nm digital CMOS process are presented. They harvest energy at power rates and peak PCE levels in excess of 1 mW and 30%. These figures are significantly higher than those of the prior art. In one design, two rectifier stages are in a cascode configuration to produce higher dc output voltage levels at the low-current regime. Novel theoretical analyses of the unique rectifying circuitry of the single-stage and two-stage cascode harvesters are presented, which formulate all of the key specifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first reported full-system 60-GHz wireless power transfer (WPT) solution that can power batteryless and charge coil-free compact WPT devices is presented. The system is fabricated in a 40-nm digital CMOS process and an inexpensive packaging material. In the rectenna (RX), a grid antenna is integrated with a complementary cross-coupled oscillator-like rectifier. At a 4-cm spacing from the transmitter (TX), the RX harvests energy at a rate of 1.22 mW with a 32.8% efficiency, which is significantly higher than the prior state of the art. A novel theoretical analysis of the rectifier operation is presented that formulates all key specifications. The TX is equipped with a quad-core PA that produces a saturated output power ( P\mathrm{ sat} ) of 24.6 dBm, which is the highest power delivery in digital CMOS at millimeter-wave bands. The TX peak power-added efficiency is 9.4%. In the TX, a $4 \,\, \times \,\, 8$ -way differential power combining and a binary-tree architecture are implemented. The designed $2 \times 2$ grid array antenna helps the TX produce 35.3-dBm peak equivalent isotropically radiated power. The results of the performance characterizations of the full-system and all individually fabricated blocks are reported. The quad-core PA supports power control and beam steering. A four-port TX antenna is designed that shows a 70° steering range in simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carrier aggregation is a key feature of the 3GPP LTE-Advanced cellular network standard that combines multiple channels to support higher data rates and improve the utilization of fragmented spectrum holdings. This work presents a cellular transmitter capable of transmitting a maximum of four channels simultaneously, two contiguous channels in two bands, with an aggregate bandwidth of up to 80 MHz, supporting a 200 Mbps uplink rate. The transmitter has 8 RF output ports covering the cellular transmit bands within the 572–2025 MHz frequency range. It can support LTE-Advanced Release 12 Cat7, \textHSPA + \textRelease 11, TDSCDMA Release 9, and GSM/EDGE Release 9. The 40 nm CMOS transmitter consumes 22 mA and 27 mA in 3G and LTE modes (at 0 dBm antenna power), respectively, including the PLL, DCXO, and biasing for a single channel. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This work presents a receiver capable of receiving three simultaneous cellular channels with an aggregate bandwidth of 60 MHz, enabling a 300 Mb/s downlink rate. The receiver has 16 RF LNA ports covering the cellular bands within the 572–2700 MHz frequency range. It supports LTE-advanced Rel-12 Cat6, HSPA+ Rel-11, TD-SCDMA Rel-9, and GSM/EDGE Rel-9. The 40 nm CMOS receiver consumes 13.7 and 17.6 mA of battery current in 3G and LTE modes, respectively, including the PLL, DCXO, and biasing for a single channel. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The IEEE 802.11ad standard supports PHY rates up to 6.7 Gbps on four 2 GHz-wide channels from 57 to 64 GHz. A 60 GHz system offers higher throughput than existing 802.11ac solutions but has several challenges for high-volume production including: integration in the host platform, automated test, and high link loss due to blockage and polarization mismatch. This paper presents a 802.11ad radio chipset capable of SC and OFDM modulation using a 16TX-16RX beamforming RF front-end, complete with an antenna array that supports polarization diversity. To aid low-cost integration in PC platforms, a single coaxial cable interface is used between chips. The chipset is capable of maintaining a link of 4.6 Gbps (PHY rate) at 10 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]