A 54–64.8 GHz subharmonically injection-locked frequency synthesizer with transmitter EVM between −26.5 dB and −28.8 dB in 28 nm CMOS

The 60 GHz frequency synthesizer presented here demonstrates a transmitter error vector magnitude (EVM) between −28.8 and −26.5 dB, from 54 to 64.8 GHz, in 28 nm digital CMOS technology. This is suitable for IEEE 802.11-2016 communications with coded datarates up to 6.4 Gb/s. Its architecture, based on subharmonic injection locking, is immune to pulling by the power amplifier. A 24 GHz phase-locked loop, designed for low phase noise, locks a 60 GHz quadrature oscillator. The phase noise of the resulting 60 GHz carrier is between −96.5 and −93.8 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset. The frequency synthesizer, consuming 107 mW, is integrated and demonstrated with a 60 GHz transmitter front end.