A 25–31GHz Compact True Power Detector with >33dB Dynamic Range in 40nm Bulk CMOS

This paper presents a compact mixer-based true power detector (PD) integrated within a Ka-band power amplifier (PA). The proposed compact PD avoids on-chip balun by sensing the voltage and current from the primary coil. Flicker noise suppression by current bleeding and linearity enhancement in the mixer expand the overall dynamic range of power detection. Intrinsic phase compensation in the detection paths removes the need of additional phase shifters, which further saves area cost. Fabricated in a 40nm CMOS process, the PD occupies a core area of 3520µm² and maintains a dynamic range of >33dB across 25–31GHz with 12.1mW power consumption.