A 25-30-GHz Asymmetric SPDT Switch for 5G Applications in 65-nm Triple-Well CMOS

• Published in: IEEE microwave and wireless components letters Vol. 29; no. 6; pp. 391 - 393
• Main Authors: Lee, Kyeong-Hyeok, Choi, Sunkyu, Kim, Choul-Young
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01-06-2019
• Subjects: 5G mobile communication; asymmetric; CMOS; Insertion loss; millimeter wave; Propagation losses; single-pole double-throw (SPDT); switch; Switches; Switching circuits; Transistors; Transmitters
• ISSN: 1531-1309; 1558-1764
• DOI: 10.1109/LMWC.2019.2914123

This letter presents a novel asymmetric single-pole double-throw (SPDT) triple-well CMOS TRx switch for 5G applications at millimeter-wave (mm-wave) frequencies of 25-30 GHz. In 5G applications, low losses in both TRx modes and high power-handling capability in the transmit mode are required. Hence, we proposed a novel structure in which the transmitter and receiver sides are designed asymmetrically to improve the power-handling capability by using all the transistors in the ON-state when in the transmit mode. The proposed TRx SPDT switch is fabricated using the 65-nm triple-well CMOS process and operates in the frequency range of 25-30 GHz with less than 1.16-dB insertion loss in both TRx modes. When in the transmit mode, the measurement result of IP 1 dB is 31.8 dBm at 28 GHz. The measurement result of input third-order intercept point is 36 dBm at an input power of 5 dBm in the transmit mode, and the core area is 0.14 mm <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">\times0.31 </tex-math></inline-formula> mm.