A Single-Side-Band Frequency Translated 64-QAM Backscatter Communication IC with Phase-Rotation Time-Variant Reflector and LUT-Based Digital Predistortion

This paper presents a backscatter communication integrated circuit (IC) that supports single-sideband (SSB) frequency translation by using a fully-integrated phase-rotation time-variant reflector. It also supports high-order modulation schemes via a high-resolution tunable RLC network and lookup table (LUT)-based digital predistortion. The proposed backscatter communication IC supports B/QPSK and 16/64-QAM modulation, achieving an EVM of 7.51% at the maximum data rate of 18 Mb/s for 64-QAM modulation, while consuming only 20.97 μW. This design is fabricated in a 40-nm CMOS process with a core area of 0.17 mm².