Advances in Phased Array Analog

Beamforming Solutions

KEITH BENSON
Director, RF/MW Amplifier & Phased Array ICs

09/13/2017
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Agenda

►Phased Array Basics

►Digital vs. Analog Beamforming
►Antennae Lattice Spacing
►IC Advances

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Phased Array Basics

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Mechanically Steered Antennae

►Traditional Antennae are mechanically Steered

 Rotating Dish with mechanical arm
 Slow to steer
 Poorer Long Term Reliability
 Physically Large
 Single Beam / data stream

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Phased Array Concept

►An array of antenna elements where the relative phase of each element is varied to
steer the radiation pattern or beam
►Effective radiation pattern is constructively reinforced in the desired direction (main
lobe) and suppressed in undesired directions (side lobes)

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Antennae Example

►16 Element Antennae

►Main Lobe has higher intensity / gain in Red
with sidelobes of lower intensity in green.
►Patch antennae elements are shown on the
antennae itself below the radiation pattern.
►Commonly the ICs are on the backside of
this antennae board.

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Phased Array Figures of Merit

► Antennae Gain (Gt):

 Gt = Radiation Intensity in Desired Direction / Radiation Intensity of Isotropic Antennae
 Isotropic Antennae Radiates Power in all directions

► Array Antennae Gain = 10 LOG N + Element Gain, N= Number of Antennae Elements

 Higher Number of Elements = Higher Gain = Higher Directivity = Narrower Beam

► EIRP = Effective Isotropic Radiated Power = Pt * Gt

 Pt = Transmitter Power
 EIRP = Pe + Ge + 20 LOG N = Element Power + Element Gain + 20 LOG N
 Example: Pe =10 dBm, Ge = 5dB, N=2000
 EIRP = 10dBm + 5dB + 66 = 81dBm

► Gt / Tn = Antennae Gain / Noise Temperature (dB / K)

 Example: Element Gain = 5dBi, Cascade NF = 3.3dB, T=286K, N= 2400 Elements
 Gt = 10 LOG N + Element Gain = 38.8dB
 Tn = [Noise Factor – 1] * Temp = 1.137 * 286K = 328 K
 Gt / Tn = 16.63
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Electrically Steered Antennae Benefits

►Electrically Steered Antennae compared to Mechanically Steered Antennae.

 Low Profile / less Volume
 Strong Long Term Reliability- no moving parts.
 Fast Beam steering
 Multiple Beams / Radiation Patterns / Data Streams
 Ability to create Nulls – eliminate an interferer / jammer
 Low Probability of Intercept / Jamming
 Graceful Failures – one element failing is okay

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Digital Beamforming vs. Analog Beamforming

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Phased Array Antennae:
Analog vs. Digital Beamforming

Analog Beamforming Digital Beamforming

Centralized Receiver Distributed Receivers

► Analog Beamforming
 1 DAC / ADC
 Phase Shifter / Amplitude Adjustment occurs at RF Frequencies
► Digital Beamforming
 1 DAC / ADC per element
 Phase Shifter / Amplitude Adjustment occurs digitally
► Many systems use a mix: Hybrid Beamforming
 Analog Sub-arrays fed by reduced digital channels
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Analog vs Digital Beamforming: Benefits / Challenges

Analog Beamforming Digital Beamforming

► Benefits ► Benefits
 Most flexible, programmable system
 Low Power Dissipation
 Many simultaneous beam patterns possible
 More Cost Effective  Adaptive antenna pattern programming
 High Channel Count per IC possible
 Close to the Antennae Element
► Challenges
 Processing large volume of digital data
► Challenges
 Power Dissipation of Many Data Converters
 Single Beam per Channel  Synchronization / Calibration of many
 Less Flexible than Digital BF waveform generator and receiver channels
 LO / Clock / Power Distribution

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Radiation Patterns

Key Points
►Three Beam Patterns to Consider
 Element Pattern
 Subarray Pattern
 Digitally Beamformed with Analog Sub-array or
Full Array Pattern
►Narrow Beam Provides
 Angular Resolution
 Localized Power
► Analog Beamforming: Single Beam commonly
► Digital Beamforming:
 Many Beams, Programmable Nulls

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Generic Analog / Digital Beamforming Phased Array Signal Flow

Digital Analog
Digital Up/Down Up/Down T/R Antenna
Beamforming Conversion Converters Conversion Analog Beamforming Modules Elements

NCO
LO
EQ
D/A
Number of Elements
1:
Number of Channels
1 : Number of Beams A/D

EQ
Beam Data

1 : Number of Channels
1 : Number of Elements

EQ

NCO LO

D/A

EQ
A/D

Waveform Generator and Receiver Channels

► The pieces of a phased array antennae are largely dependent on system goals
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Antennae Lattice Spacing

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Antennae Element Spacing

► Element Spacing
 Max spacing = λ/2 -> As operating frequency ↑, element spacing ↓
 Reduced based on scan angles and sidelobe objectives
 Reduced to account for mechanical structure
 Reduced for dual pole system
λ/2 lattice spacing to prevent Grating lobes
1.6

1.4

1.2
Distance (inches)

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Freq(GHz)
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 Grating Lobes

► Grating Lobe is an unwanted main lobe

► Element spacing of element unit cell > 0.5 * λ
 Energy is radiated into Grating Lobes
► Need to maintain element unit cell < 0.5 * λ

► mmW Frequencies
 Leads to single ICs as the complete RF
beamformer with high channel count to meet
lattice spacing requirement
 16 / 32 channel ICs needed at 60GHz

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Phased Array Antennae Construction

► Plank Architecture
 PCBs with ICs sit perpendicular to antennae board.
 The size of the ICs matter less because they don’t need to
fit into the lattice spacing
 More traditional approach given the size of existing ICs

► Flat Panel Arrays

 The Antennae PCB contains the antennae elements on
one side and ICs on backside. PCB
TOP
 Antennae Lattice spacing and size of ICs becomes very
important to prevent grating lobes
 Leads to very low profile arrays.
PCB
 Thermal concerns are critical as there no space for cooling Bottom

 Should lead to smaller, less weight, and more cost effective

solutions.

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IC Advances

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Comparing IC Technology

1000 W
► SiGe with CMOS integration offers low power
Digital circuits and strong RF performance
100 W
► GaAs ICs have been used in RF / MW electronics

Power
Silicon
for past 20-30 years LDMOS GaN/Si GaN/SiC
10 W
► GaN / SiC offers higher Power Density / PAE than
GaAs with similar bandwidth capability 1W GaAs

► GaN / Si and LDMOS is mainly used <4GHz today SiGe

1 GHz 10 GHz 100 GHz

► The combination of new high integration Silicon Frequency

processes with new high power density GaN is

making phased array antennae more feasible /
attractive.
► Better SWAP-C
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GaAs PA vs. GaN PA in phased array

► The power density of GaN is ~5x the power density of GaAs PA

 GaAs PAs at 10GHz has Psat = ~ 1 W / mm
 GaN PAs at 10GHz has Psat = ~ 5 W / mm
► Simplifies the design
► Reduces IC size
► Eliminates combining losses – improves PAE

C-band 4W PA Equivalent GaN PA

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 Traditional Analog Beamforming Architecture.

Traditional Approach = Single Function ICs

► Defense companies have been working
with single function solutions for years
► More advanced Defense systems have
integrated GaAs monolithic ICs with
Silicon control IC
► Typically single channel ICs
► Size makes it challenging for Flat Panel
Arrays
Limiter used if needed
► Challenging to implement at mmW
frequencies

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Next Generation Analog Beamforming Architecture.

Integrated Approach = Multi-Channel ICs

Integrated Core Chip Integrated T/R Module

► Silicon Technology allows for
Next Generation Next Generation
strong RF performance with
Digital integration benefits
► GaN Technology allows for
extremely high power density
and superior PAE
► Makes Flat Panel arrays
possible
► Improved SWAP
Limiter used if needed

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 Fully Integrated Analog Beamforming Architecture.

Fully Integrated Approach = Multi-Channel ICs with FEM integrated

► Front
End is included in
Beamforming IC Single Chip Solution
► Likely
integrated Silicon
monolithic IC
► Power ~ 10 – 20dBm
► NF ~ 3dB
► Common for small Apertures
► Common for mmW frequencies

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ADAR1000: 4 Channel Integrated Beamforming IC

►X & Ku-band: 8 – 16GHz

► Gain / Phase Adjust in Both Tx & Rx
► TDD Operation
► 7- Bit ~ 2.8 Degree Phase Accuracy
►> 31dB Gain Control
► Integrated Memory to store Beam States
► Low DC Power
► Fast Switching Speed
► 7x7mm Package

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AD9371: Integrated Dual RF Transceiver

► Integrated Dual Traffic Rx and Tx

► Total Power (@ max
 Tuning Range: 300MHz < Fc < 6GHz bandwidth)
 FDD/TDD Operation  Dual Rx = 2.7W
 Dual Tx = 3.7W
► Receiver
 FDD = 4.9W
 Max Rx BW = 100MHz
 NF: 14dB @ 3.5GHz, max gain
► Digital Features
 IIP3 20dBm @ 3.5GHz, max gain
 Tx/Rx QEC,
 IIP2: 65dBm @ 3.5GHz, max gain  DC offset,
 Gain Range/Step (dB): 30/0.5  LO leakage
 6GSPS JESD204-B
► Transmitter interface
 Max Tx BW = 250MHz
 64dBc ACLR (20MHz LTE)
 OIP3: 27dBm (5dB atten)
 Gain Range/Step (dB): 42/0.05

► Integrated Observation and Sniffer Rx

 Max ORx BW = 250MHz
 2 inputs
 AD9361-like sniffer front end
 Dedicated LO
 3 inputs

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Complete X / Ku-band Array with Analog / Digital (Hybrid) Beamforming

ADTR1101 ADTR1101

HMC553A HMC1118
Tx
SW
ADI
Rx Transceiver

ADAR1000 Tx
AD9371
SW

Radar Digital
Processor(s)
Passive Rx
Up/Down Mixer

Tx
SW
ADI
Rx Transceiver
ADTR1101 ADTR1101
Tx AD9371
SW
 8 Antenna Feeds per Transceiver
 Single Mixer for Up and Down Conversion
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Analog Devices Complete Solution

► Analog Devices is offering reference designs of complete solutions for Radar

► ICs designed to work well with adjacent components – optimized performance
► Ability to optimize and create new solutions tailored to customer needs

4 channel Analog Beamformer Front End Module

Mixers
IF Amps / Switches

DACs / ADCs
Transceivers

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