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An RF electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection for millimeter-wave (MMW) regime applied to a 60-GHz low-noise amplifier (LNA) in mixed-signal and RF purpose 0.13-[micro]m CMOS technology is demonstrated in this paper. The measured results show that this chip achieves a small signal gain of 20.4 dB and a noise figure (NF) of 8.7 dB at 60 GHz with 65-mW dc power consumption. Without ESD protection, the LNA exhibits a gain of 20.2 dB and an NF of 7.2 dB at 60 GHz. This ESD protection using an impedance isolation method to minimize the RF performance degradation sustains 6.5-kV voltage level of the human body model on the diode and 1.5 kV on the core circuit, which is much higher than that without ESD protection ( Index Terms--CMOS integrated circuits (ICs), low-noise amplifiers (LNAs), millimeter-wave (MMW) circuits, RF electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection.

The stacked-device power-combining technique is a proven method to increase the output power and load impedance of a power amplifier (PA) simultaneously. The series-input configuration is physically realizable for multicell stacked device configuration in monolithic circuits. The series-input and series-output stack configuration is rigorously analyzed and proven to increase both the input impedance and output impedance simultaneously, easing the matching circuit designs in high PAs. The effects of asymmetry of the input feed and amplifier cells due to distributed effects and process variation on the performance of the stack amplifier are discussed. A four-cell HBT amplifier operating at 5-6 GHz is demonstrated to validate the circuit concept. Index Terms--Monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) power amplifiers (PAs), stacked amplifier.

A new transmission-line concept, called the field-effect transistor (FET)-integrated coplanar waveguide (CPW), is proposed. This concept treats the passive two-finger FET as CPW and, thus, the scaling rule is more accurate than the previous model, especially in high frequency. The extraction approach of the parameters of the FET-integrated CPW is also included. With this concept, the design procedure of traveling-wave switches can be equivalent to a filter synthesis problem. Based on this design procedure, a single-pole single-throw and a single-pole double-throw traveling-wave switch have been realized and measured using 0.15-[micro]m high-linearity AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs pseudomorphic high electron-mobility transistors. Finally, the frequency limitation of the traveling-wave switches is also discussed. The results show the FET-integrated CPW is the most efficient way to overcome the frequency limitations of traveling-wave switches, achieving operation frequency to 135 GHz, the highest frequency reported to date. Index Terms--Coplanar waveguide (CPW), field-effect transistor (FET), traveling-wave switch.

A dual-mode bandpass ring filter using two pairs of shunt capacitances has been analyzed and designed. The size of the ring resonator can be reduced significantly by increasing the shunt capacitances. Since the resonator size is not an integer multiple of operating frequency, harmonic suppression is easily achieved. Analysis shows that the two pairs of shunt capacitances independently control the even- and odd-mode resonant frequency of the ring resonator. Moreover, the shunt capacitance also allows easier biasing, making tunable filters using varactors realizable. Various configurations of dual-mode bandpass filters have been reported, and the advantages and disadvantages of each structure are discussed. Several filters of various capacitances have been designed and tested at 1.8 GHz, and show significant size reduction of over 67%. A varactor-tuned filter has also been designed, and demonstrated a measured tunable center frequency of 20%. This study is a solution to the miniaturization of ring filters, and allows performance tuning, making ring filters more attractive in monolithic microwave integrated circuits and system-on-chip applications. Index Terms--Bandpass, dual mode, filter, miniature, ring.