60 GHz Transceiver Basics and Analog Devices Solution

This application note covers 60 GHz Transceiver basics including its working operation. It mentions features of the 60 GHz RF Transceiver HMC6300/HMC6301 from Analog Devices Inc.

HMC6300 functions as a 60 GHz transmitter, while HMC6301 acts as a 60 GHz receiver. The article also mentions other 60 GHz transceiver manufacturers or vendors.

Introduction

As we know, a transceiver consists of two main parts: the transmitter and the receiver. The transmitter takes baseband I/Q or IF as input and generates a modulated RF frequency as output. Conversely, the receiver takes modulated RF as input and generates baseband I/Q or IF as output. Both the transmitter and receiver use one or more RF mixers for frequency conversion. Because the transmitter performs up-conversion of frequency, it’s also known as an up-converter, whereas the receiver performs down-conversion and is known as a down-converter.

For $F_{in}$ as the input frequency, $F_{LO}$ as the local oscillator input, and $F_{out}$ as the output frequency of the RF mixer, they are expressed as follows:

$F_{out} = \pm m \cdot F_{in} \pm n \cdot F_{LO}$

where $m$ and $n$ range from 0, 1, 2, 3.

The RF mixer produces the sum as well as the difference of the input frequencies. The appropriate component is filtered out as per the system requirements, as shown in the figure.

60 GHz Transceiver HMC6300/HMC6301 from Analog Devices

The 60 GHz transceiver can be developed by using HMC6300 transmitter and HMC6301 receiver chips together on a board. Analog Devices offers an evaluation kit housing both of these ICs.

The transceiver ICs are used for various applications, including:

• Small cell backhaul
• 60 GHz ISM band data transfer
• WiGig as per 802.11ad standard
• HD video transmission
• Radar and high-resolution imaging

Figure 1 depicts the 60 GHz transmitter Model HMC6300.

The I/Q baseband signals and the RF signals are differential signals in this model. The complex modulated carrier is frequency converted using 3x the reference LO frequency inside the chip using an RF mixer. Both HMC6300 and 6301 use an intermediate frequency (IF) between 8 GHz and 9.1 GHz.

• RF_OUT_P and RF_OUT_N: output transmitter frequency.
• EXTLO_P and EXTLO_N: LO frequency input
• BB_IP and BB_IQ: Baseband I signal
• BB_QP and BB_QN: Baseband Q signal
• REFCLK_P and REFCLK_N: reference clock signal frequency, used to select different step sizes (250 MHz, 500 MHz or 540 MHz) based on clock frequencies (71.4286 MHz/142.857 MHz/ 154.2857 MHz).

Following are the technical features or specifications of the HMC6300 60GHz transmitter:

• Frequency Band: 57 to 64 GHz
• RF bandwidth: up to 1.8 GHz
• Output P1dB, 1 dB compression point: 15 dBm
• Phase Noise: -75 dBc/Hz (at 100 KHz), -93 dBc/Hz (at 1 MHz), -114 dBc/Hz (at 10 MHz) etc.
• Gain: 5 to 35 dB
• Temperature sensor (On-chip)
• SPI interface (3-wire serial digital interface)
• Supports up to 256 QAM modulation
• It supports FSK/MSK/OOK modulation

Figure 2 depicts the 60 GHz receiver Model HMC6301.

The following signals are used in this version:

• RFIN: Input RF frequency
• EXTLO_P and EXTLO_N: LO frequency
• VOUT_IP, VOUT_IM: Baseband I signal
• VOUT_QP, VOUT_QM: Baseband Q signal
• REFCLK_P, REFCLK_M: Reference clock signal

Following are the technical features or specifications of the HMC6301 60GHz receiver:

• Frequency band: 57 to 64 GHz
• Signal bandwidth: up to 1.8 GHz
• Receiver gain: 0 to 69 dB
• Noise figure: 8 dB (typical)

60 GHz Transceiver Manufacturers or Vendors

The following table mentions 60 GHz transceiver manufacturers or vendors.