A Cost-Effective Ku-Band Phased Array in Package Integrating Multi-Independent CMOS Transceivers With On-Chip Antennas

A low-cost and integration-efficient Ku-band phased array is demonstrated for satellite communication, which is package integrated with four independent 180-nm CMOS transceivers (TRXs) with ON-chip antennas. To improve the integration of phased-array beamformer while considering the cost, a cost-effective packaging technique combining ON-chip and printed circuit board (PCB) is proposed. In addition, an OFF-chip guard ring array is introduced to further optimize the gain and sidelobe suppression level. The designed CMOS TRX integrated circuit (IC) achieves a measured maximum gain of 17.6 dB with a 3-dB bandwidth of 15.5-18 GHz in the transmitter (TX) mode. The receiver (RX) mode realizes a peak gain of 19.2 dB at 16.5 GHz. With the help of the proposed techniques, the packaged four-element phased array demonstrates a measured beam steering range of +/- 32 degrees. It provides important guiding significance for the design of the phased array with high integration, superior performance, and low cost operating in lower frequencies.