A 60-GHz CMOS Transceiver with On-Chip Antenna and Periodic Near Field Directors for Multi-Gb/s Contactless Connector

A 60-GHz-based millimeter-wave (mm-wave)-wireless-interconnect (M2W2-I) with noncoherent amplitude shift-key (ASK) modulation is presented for applications in multigigabit ultrashort distance contactless connector. M2W2-I modulates data at mm-wave frequencies and transmits over the air in a very short distance (5 mm or less). A folded-dipole antenna is designed on-chip for a compact package form-factor, and a periodic near field director (PNFD) is inserted between transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) to enhance a communication distance. Designed and fabricated in 65-nm CMOS, the M2W2-I achieves 5 Gb/s with 0.5 mm separation of air-coupling and 5.7-Gb/s 5-mm separation through a PNFD inserted channel. The measured energy efficiency is 7 pJ/bit using a PNFD.