A Reconfigurable Ultra Compact Bi-directional Amplifier with a Build-in-Self Notch Filter for K/Ka-band Satellite Communication

Extremely high cost and form factor have become the most important reason limiting the promotion of K/Ka-band SATCOM devices with thousands of phased-array channels. To address this challenge, a reconfigurable ultra-compact bi-directional amplifier with a build-in-self notch filter in 45-nm CMOS SOI technology is presented. In this design, the LNA is stacked into PA by using a magnetic-coupling self-canceling technique, improving area efficiency greatly with negligible performance penalty. The amplifier achieves 18.3 dBm max Psat and 15.9 dBm max OP1dB in PA mode while maintaining a minimum NF of 2.46 dB in LNA mode. The core area is only 0.14 mm2, which is even smaller than unidirectional LNAs or PAs. The proposed bi-directional amplifier has good gain suppression(>45 dB) at 30 GHz in LNA mode to block the interferer. This work is the first reported high-performance bi-directional amplifier designed for K/ka band SATCOM.