11.5-Gbps 2.4-pJ/bit 60-GHz OOK demodulator integrated in a SiGe BiCMOS technology

This paper presents design and characterization of a 60-GHz On-Off Keying (OOK) demodulator for low-power ultra-high-speed wireless communications. The core of the demodulator consists of a fully-balanced envelope detector to improve the detection sensitivity compared to the conventional single-ended configuration. A feed-forward offset-compensation technique is utilized to eliminate the DC saturation in the limiting amplifier of the demodulator. Integrated in a 0.25-μm SiGe BiCMOS technology, the demodulator can operate with data rates from 4 Gbps to 11.5 Gbps with 10 -12 BER over a 60-GHz carrier. The demodulator consumes 27.5 mW of DC power from a 1.6-V supply voltage, accounting for all bias circuits and a test output buffer. An energy efficiency of 2.4 pJ/bit is achieved at a data rate of 11.5 Gbps.