Transmitter and Receiver for High Speed Polymer Microwave Fiber Communication at D-Band

A chipset for high datarate polymer microwave fiber (PMF) communication is described. It consist of a PAM-4 RF-DAC and power detector (PD) and is fabricated using a commercial 130 nm SiGe BiCMOS process. A link measurement is performed over a one meter long PMF verifying that the link can support data rates up to 20 Gbps using PAM-4, with a bit error rate (BER) of <10−12. The RF-DAC covers frequencies between 120-160 GHz, with a peak output power of 4 dBm. It has a stacked transistor pair as core and includes a frequency doubler at the LO input and a three stage amplifier at the output. The PD includes an amplifier and an active balun to suppress the fundamental frequency. Both circuits occupy only 1.54 mm2 combined, including pads. The high data-rate, energy efficiency, low cost and robustness of the link makes is suitable for short range (<10 meters) device-to-device communication.