IMEC

for high-data-rate communication. Despite the large amount of research on CMOS mm-wave frequency generation, current state-of-the-art mm-wave PLLs [1-5] do not achieve a tuning range that is wide enough to cover the worl

high-datarate communication [1-4]. From a cost perspective, a highly integrated solution is favorable. Speed and power consumption considerations for the highdata-rate digital part of the chip make 45nm CMOS a very reali

U.Leuven, Leuven, Belgium 3 R.M.A., Brussels, Belgium 2 Energy harvesters [1] power energy-autonomous wireless sensor systems by converting ambient environmental energy into electrical energy. Thermoelectric generators (

components at high frequencies impose the application of beamforming to enable wireless communication in the mm-wave band. At the receiver side, beamforming improves the SNR and increases immunity against interfering sig

performance attainable in already available technologies. Above-IC technology (A-IC), consisting of a 5μm thick electroplated Cu layer on an 18μm low-K BCB dielectric, post-processed on top of the CMOS, provides a low-co

applications. Expensive scaled CMOS processes are readily used as a technology enabler to provide adequate performance. The high implementation cost of circuits in such processes is justified by the added functionality o

U.Leuven, Heverlee, Belgium R. M. A., Brussels, Belgium 3 Energy scavenging [1] is an emerging method to power energyautonomous wireless sensor systems by converting ambient environmental energy into electrical energy. M

in medium- to high-speed (10s of MS/s to a few GS/s) and medium- to low-resolution (4b to 9b) A/D converters. Current state-of-the-art FOM is 65fJ [1]. These efficiency improvements are primarily driven by mobile, wirele