Method and apparatus for a clock and signal distribution network for a 60 GHz transmitter system

摘要

Herein is presented, a low power on-die 60 GHz distribution network for a beamforming system that can be scaled as the number of transmitters increases. The transmission line based power splitters and quadrature hybrids whose size would be proportional to a quarter wavelength (˜600 μm) if formed using transmission lines are instead constructed by inductors/capacitors and reduce the area by more than 80%. An input in-phase I clock and an input quadrature Q clock are combined into a single composite clock waveform locking the phase relation between the in-phase I clock and quadrature Q clock. The composite clock is transferred over a single transmission line formed using a Co-planar Waveguide (CPW) coupling the source and destination locations over the surface of a die. Once the individuals the in-phase I and quadrature Q clocks are required, they can be generated at the destination from the composite clock waveform.

主权项

1. An apparatus comprising:
an in-phase clock and a quadrature clock of a Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO) coupled to an input of a sinusoidal combiner; a first composite clock of an output of said sinusoidal combiner coupled to an input of power divider; a second and a third composite clock coupled to outputs of said power divider; a plurality of transmission lines to transport all said composite clocks; a quadrature hybrid to recover a first in-phase and a first quadrature clock from said second composite clock; said first in-phase clock is used to generate a first inverse in-phase clock; a first mixer clocked by said first in-phase and said first inverse in-phase clock to up-convert a first signal; said first quadrature clock is used to generate a first inverse quadrature clock; a second mixer clocked by said first quadrature and said first inverse quadrature clock to up-convert said first signal; a summer to combine outputs of said first and second mixers; an output of said summer coupled to a first transmitter; said first transmitter coupled to a first antenna; said first antenna transmits into free space said first signal after being up-converted; a second quadrature hybrid to recover a second in-phase and a second quadrature clock from said third composite clock; said second in-phase clock is used to generate a second inverse in-phase clock; a third mixer clocked by said second in-phase and said second inverse in-phase clock to up-convert a second signal; said second quadrature clock is used to generate a second inverse quadrature clock; a fourth mixer clocked by said second quadrature and said second inverse quadrature clock to up-convert said second signal; a second summer to combine outputs of said third and fourth mixers; an output of said second summer coupled to a second transmitter; said second transmitter coupled to a second antenna; and said second antenna transmits into free space said second signal up-converted.