Le développement d'objets communicants dédiés aux applications Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) à 60GHz vise des débits de l'ordre du GBit/sec. Pour satisfaire la contrainte de faible coût, la technologie CMOS silicium est la plus adaptée. L'utilisation de cette technologie est un challenge en soi afin de concilier les aspects « pertes & rendement » vis à vis des contraintes de puissance. Le but de la thèse est de concevoir des amplificateurs de puissance opérant à 60GHz avec la technologie CMOS 65nm de STMicroelectronics. Cette démarche est progressive car il convient d'analyser puis d'optimiser les performances des composants passifs et actifs constituant l'amplificateur de puissance à l'aide des logiciels de simulations électromagnétique et microélectronique. Finalement, des amplificateurs de puissance ont été réalisés et leurs performances répondent au cahier des charges initialement défini. / Telecommunication industry claims for increasing data rate in wireless communication systems. The major demand of high data rate applications concerns a large panel of home multimedia exchanging data especially for the uncompressed HD data transfer. The 7GHz band around 60GHz is free of use and fulfils the short range gigabit communication requirements. CMOS technology is most appropriate since it drives a fast time to market with a low cost for high integration volume. However, the use of CMOS technology is challenging to satisfy loss and performance trade-off under power constraints. This thesis aims at designing power amplifiers operating at 60GHz with 65nm CMOS technology from STMicroelectronics. This approach is progressive because it is necessary to analyze and optimize the performance of passive and active components constituting the power amplifier using electromagnetic and microelectronics software. Finally, power amplifiers have been made. Their performances met specifications originally defined.

Dans le cadre des communications numériques sans fil, la vitesse d’échange de données est plus que jamais une caractéristique critique du système. Une augmentation du débit est donc nécessaire pour le développement de nouvelles applications, comme le «Wireless HD» qui doit rendre possible la transmission sans fil de gros volumes de données, telles que de la vidéo «non-compressée» à haute définition, à très haut débit (1-2 Gbps). La bande de fréquence centrée à 60 GHz semble être une solution préférentielle pour répondre à un tel besoin de par sa bande de fréquence disponible (9 GHz). Pour cela, il est nécessaire de disposer de technologies performantes pour l’intégration de systèmes d’émission réception (front-ends) millimétriques pour ces communications à très haut débit. L’objectif de cette thèse est de participer à la réalisation d’un système antennaire très directif à 60 GHz par la conception combinée d’une antenne et d’un filtre, et l’intégration de cette fonction grâce à un même procédé technologique. La conception et l’intégration combinées de l’antenne et du filtre participeront à améliorer le rendement global du sous-système destiné à des applications très haut débit à 60 GHz. Cette thèse, intitulée «Conception de fonctions combinées filtre-antenne pour les communications haut débit à 60 GHz», a été réalisée au sein du laboratoire XLIM, en collaboration avec le SPCTS pour les aspects technologiques, dans le cadre d’un projet régional. / The 60 GHz unlicensed spectrum between 57 and 66 GHz has received a lot of attention over the last years for enabling short-range and over 1-Gbps high-speed wireless communications. In addition to the high-data rates that can be accomplished in this spectrum, many other benefits such as high security communications are foreseen. In general, this frequency band is destined to low power and short range fixed or mobile applications. To benefit from high-speed within a compact device, it is required to realize a subsystem combining a directional antenna and a multiplexer with the same technological process. The 3D ceramic stereo lithography process has been selected to ensure the dimensional accuracy and limit the inevitable dispersions. This thesis contributes to achieve directional antennas at 60GHz by a combined antenna design and filter, and perform this function in the same technology the 3D ceramic stereo lithography process when connecting the filter with the antenna. Therefore, the first challenge is to design and to manufacture the primary feed of the directive antenna and the channel filters using the 3D ceramic process. The second challenge is to combine the primary feed and the 4 channel filters to form a single object. The filter-antenna subsystem allows to have a directivity of approximately 14 dBi. Therefore, the radiation of the horn antenna remains unchanged over the whole frequency band [57-66]GHz by associating the manifold multiplexer. The filter-antenna subsystem provides a return loss better than 10 dB at each port.

Ce travail porte sur l'étude d'un oscillateur de puissance contrôlé en tension en ondes millimétriques. L'objectif de la thèse est de concevoir cet oscillateur pour la bande de fréquence utilisée dans les standards IEEE 802.15.3c, IEEE 802.11ad et ECMA TC48, à savoir 56GHz-65GHz. Le principe de l'oscillateur de puissance est développé autour d'un amplificateur de puissance rebouclé pour engendrer un système oscillant. L'amplificateur de puissance développé est un amplicateur à deux étages. Celui de puissance est de classe E et le driver est de classe F. La boucle de retour est basée sur un vecteur-modulateur. Les circuits ont été fabriqués en technologie CMOS 65nm de STMicroelectronics. / This PhD thesis deals with a Power Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO) in millimeter waves. The aim is to design this Power VCO in the frequency band used in the standards IEEE 802.15.3c, IEEE 802.11ad and ECMA TC48, meaning from 56GHz to 65GHz. The principle of this oscillator is developed around a power amplifier in a loop, generating an oscillating system. The power amplifier is developed in a two-stage topology. The power stage is composed with a 60GHz class E cascoded amplifier and the driver stage is composed of a 60GHz class F amplifier. The feedback of the loop is based on a vector-modulator. The circuits have been realised in 65nm CMOS technology from STMicroelectronics.

Les récepteurs pour les communications sans fil très haut débit à 60 GHz tirent profit des innovations des liens filaires afin de réduire le budget de puissance, ce qui permettra l'intégration de la prochaine génération des terminaux portables sans fil. L’implémentation d’un égaliseur de canal à décision rétroactive, utilisant des signaux mixtes, est proposé pour diminuer la consommation globale du système. Dans ce mémoire, la réduction de consommation est atteinte par l'élimination de l'horloge du chemin de rétroaction de l’égaliseur. Inspiré par des récents développements en traitement des signaux numériques en temps continu, une ligne à retard numérique est aussi introduite. Le système conçu vise à atténuer les effets causés par les réflexions du signal dans des contextes de transmission en contact visuel entre le transmetteur et le récepteur. Les résultats théoriques montrent ainsi une consommation dépendante de la réalisation du canal. En outre, un élément de délai numérique programmable est proposé en tant qu’élément granulaire de la ligne à retard, en exploitant la polarisation de substrat des transistors, afin d’atteindre un réglage des délais extrêmement fin. Des démonstrateurs sur Silicium ont été fabriqués et caractérisés en technologie 28 nm FDSOI (Fully Depleted Silicon Over Insulator) pour démontrer les concepts proposés dans cette thèse. / Receivers for 60GHz wireless communications have been profiting from innovation in wired links in order to meet a power budget that will enable integration in next‐generation high-speed portable wireless terminals. Mixed‐signal implementations of the Decision Feedback Equalizer (DFE) have been proposed to alleviate overall system consumption. In this thesis, power minimization is pursued by removing the clock from the feedback path of the DFE. Inspired by recent developments in Continuous‐Time Digital Signal Processing, a continuous‐time digital delay line is used. The design aims at mitigating wireless channel impairments caused by signal reflections in typical Line‐of‐Sight, indoors deployment conditions. The system is shown theoretically to achieve channel‐dependent power consumption within acceptable Bit Error Rate performance for decoding. Moreover, a programmable digital delay element is proposed as the granular element of the delay line that exploits body biasing to achieve a coarse/fine functionality. Prototype DFE and delay lines have been fabricated and characterized in 28nm Fully Depleted Silicon Over Insulator technology (FDSOI).

Le développement d'objets communicants dédiés aux applications Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) à 60GHz vise des débits de l'ordre du GBit/sec. Pour satisfaire la contrainte de faible coût, la technologie CMOS silicium est la plus adaptée. L'utilisation de cette technologie est un challenge en soi afin de concilier les aspects « pertes & rendement » vis à vis des contraintes de puissance. Le but de la thèse est de concevoir des amplificateurs de puissance opérant à 60GHz avec la technologie CMOS 65nm de STMicroelectronics. Cette démarche est progressive car il convient d'analyser puis d'optimiser les performances des composants passifs et actifs constituant l'amplificateur de puissance à l'aide des logiciels de simulations électromagnétique et microélectronique. Finalement, des amplificateurs de puissance ont été réalisés et leurs performances répondent au cahier des charges initialement défini.

In recent years there has been a growing trend in optical wireless convergence. One particular aspect of this is 60 GHz radio-over-fiber technology. It is intended for use in wireless personal area networks. However, we think that the same technology could be used for monitoring applications in the indoor environment. It could be used to detect emergency situations or to detect intruders. We shall examine reasons why this choice might be a suitable one. We shall then propose a MAC layer protocol to accomplish this task. Since in case of emergency we might require to obtain data from only one node for an extended duration, flexibility in implementation is required. We shall develop an adaptive MAC protocol where this would be possible. We accomplish this by including two protocol modes called the Icarus mode, which is to be used in case of an emergency and the Resync mode which is used when normality is restored. A significant problem at high frequencies is that the beam becomes increasingly narrow and behaves more in a ray like condition. This implies that particularly in an indoor environment it is possible that the beam may be accidentally blocked. In this case the node must be able shift the beam in order to enable communication. We demonstrate three such strategies and offer a comparative analysis.

Millimeter-wave has been a medium for automotive, sensor, and defense applications for a long time. But, a fully integrated silicon-based transceiver at 60 GHz or higher frequencies has become the driving force for recent research activities in integrated millimeter-wave (MMW) circuit designs. However, no integrated compact high-performance millimeter-wave system can be designed without accurate estimation and optimization of layout parasitics. In this dissertation, the estimation, modeling and optimization of parasitic effects as well as the verification of extraction methodologies for RF/MMW applications are investigated. Different circuit design- and layout-examples are considered with stress on the inclusion and optimization of wire/interconnect parasitics. A novel methodology is proposed to reduce the number of design-passes and to include layout parasitics in the design optimization procedure. An automated verification procedure for existing parasitic extraction tools is developed. Neural-network-based models are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of artificial intelligence techniques for characterizing parasitic components. The parasitic sensitivities for selected millimeter-wave circuits are demonstrated, and a parasitic benchmarking procedure is developed using MMW oscillators. Measurement results of several circuits that are implemented in state-of-the-art CMOS and SiGe-BiCMOS processes are used to demonstrate the role of parasitics and the systematic design methodology including parasitics.

With the recent rise of 3D-printing as a form of manufacturing and their advantages for quick prototyping there is an interest for 3D-printed optical components. This thesis tests how well 3D-printed quasi-optical components preform and verify measurements with electromagnetic simulations. Measurements were made using a 60GHz FM-CW radar as well with a trihedral reflector, and tested on 3D-printed PLA lenses printed using an Ultimaker 2+. The measurements made are of the refractive index of the material, as well as the focal length of the lenses. Results showed PLA having a refractive index close to n = 1.654 in the 60GHz region. Results also showed the lenses having consistent properties like focal length and gain, two lenses having focal length of 23.7 and 23.9 mm which are close to the simulation of 24.05 mm. These findings shows 3D printed quasi-optical components have sufficient performance for use of prototyping or production depending on use. There are also some questions that have arisen like how does crystallisation in the plastic affect the components properties? And how does the PLA degrading affect the quality of the lenses over time? / På grund av framgångar inom 3D-utskrivning på senaste tiden som en form av tillverkning och dess fördelar med snabb framtagande av prototyper finns det ett intresse för utskrivna optiska komponenter. Detta examensarbete testar hur väl 3D-utskrivna kvasioptiska komponenter funger\-ar och verifierar testresultat med elektromagnetiska simuleringar. Mät\-ning\-arna gjordes med en FM-CW radar och en trihedral reflektor, och testade PLA linser utskrivna med en Ultimaker 2+. Mätningar\-na gjordes på materialets brytningsindex samt linsernas brännvidd. Resultaten visade att PLA har ett brytningsindex nära n = 1.654 i 60GHz området. Resultaten visade även hur linserna har konsekventa egenskaper som brännvidd och förstärkning. De två slutgiltiga linserna hade en brännvidd på 23.7 and 23.9 mm vilket är nära simuleringen på 24.05 mm. Dessa resultat visar att 3D-utskrivna komponenter har tillräcklig prestanda för användning i framtagande av prototyper eller produktion beroende på användning. Det finns en del frågor som kommit till, som hur påverkar plastens kristallisation komponentens egenskaper? Och hur påverkar PLAs nedbrytande linsernas kvalité?

This thesis examines the problem of providing high data-rate wireless connectivity to users in indoor environments. The goal is to be able to reach Gbps/user rates even when there are multiple users present. The technology that we study is to use the 60 GHz spectrum whose special propagation properties make it ideally suited to this task. The approaches developed include using multiple spatially distributed smart antennas in a room or multiple co-located antennas to provide coverage where needed and when needed. All the antennas are connected to a single access point which allows us to dynamically change spectrum and link allocation among the users (as they move or as their needs change). The innovations in this work include the exploitation of the special properties of 60 GHz and the corresponding design of algorithms for efficient spectrum allocation. We use detailed simulations to demonstrate that very high data rates are indeed achievable.

The delivery of tunable millimetre-wave components at 60GHz is of research and development interests with the advent of 5G era. Among applications such as high-data-rate wireless communications, high-precision automotive radars and hand-gesture sensing, variable phase shifters are vital components for antenna arrays to steer an electromagnetic beam without mechanical movement. However, present microwave technology has limited scope in meeting more and more stringent requirements in wavefront phase control and device performance for those cutting-edge applications in the millimetre-wavelength range. Although some existing microwave switchable techniques (such as RF MEMS and solid-state p-i-n diodes) can offer ultra-fast speed for phase modulation, their binary beam-steering nature is resolution-limited and thereby degrades the beam-scanning performance. In response to this, continuously-tunable phase shifting can be realised by using tunable dielectric materials such as ferroelectric BST and liquid crystals (LCs). BST thin films can offer relatively fast switching and modest tunability. However, the increased dielectric loss beyond 10GHz impedes their implementation for higher frequency applications. By comparison, liquid crystals (LCs) have drawn attention in recent years because of their continuous tunability as well as low losses especially at millimetre-wavebands. The principle of shifting the phase continuously is based on the shape anisotropy of LC molecules for variable polarizabilities and hence tunable dielectric constants, which allows wave speed to be controlled with ease by a low-frequency field of only up to 10V. However, LC-based tunable delay lines are not well established in the frequency regime of 60GHz-90GHz because of the limited status of LC microwave technology in which most of the LC based devices have been designed for below 40GHz. It is the aim of this PhD research to bridge the gap and address future societal needs based on our group's focus and experience in developing cutting-edge LC-based agile microwave components. In this work, a liquid crystal (LC) based 0-180˚continuously-variable phase shifter is developed with insertion loss less than -4.4dB and return loss below -15dB across a wide spectrum from 54GHz to 67GHz. The device is driven by a 0-10V AC bias and structured in a novel enclosed coplanar waveguide (ECPW) including an enclosed ground plate in the design, which significantly reduces the instability due to floating effects of the transmission line. This structure screens out interference and stray modes, allowing resonance-free quasi-TEM wave propagation up to 90GHz. The tunable ECPW is optimised by competing spatial volume distribution of the millimetre-wave signal occupying lossy tunable dielectrics versus low-loss but non-tunable dielectrics and minimising the total of dielectric volumetric loss and metal surface loss for a fixed phase-tuning range. A variety of influences affecting the actual device performance are studied, experimented and optimised. Fabricated prototypes exhibit wideband low-loss performance and 0-π continuous tuning with low power consumptions and high linearity compared with the state-of-the-arts. Potentially, the ECPW-fed phased antenna array will be incorporated with advanced beam-forming algorithms to develop compact beam-steering systems of improved performances and targeted for ultra-high-data-rate wireless communications, inter-satellite communications, current road safety improvement, futuristic autonomous driving, and other smart devices such as the hand-gesture recognition.