Title:  Millimeter-Wave Quadrature Receivers for Remote Sensing and Data Communications

Committee: 

Dr. Cressler, Advisor

Dr. Steffes, Chair

Dr. Lourenco

Abstract:

The objective of the proposed research is to investigate the design challenges of mm-wave quadrature receivers for emerging applications and develop new ideas to address these challenges. Next generation wireless networks, satellite communications, atmospheric sensing instruments, autonomous vehicle radars, and body scanners are targeting to operate at mm-wave frequencies, and high-performance electronics are needed to enable these technologies. In this research, we investigate novel circuit topologies to improve the performance of existing mm-wave quadrature receivers. Broadband and low-loss quadrature signal generation networks are proposed to provide highly balanced quadrature signals to increase the modulation spectral efficiency and address the image problem. A transformer-based front-end switch is co-designed with an LNA where the transformer acts as the input matching network of the LNA reducing the front-end loss and system noise figure. In addition, high-efficiency frequency multiplier topologies are demonstrated, achieving superior performance compared to the state-of-the-art designs. To confirm the advantage of our ideas, the measurement and simulation results of all fabricated circuits are presented and discussed.