Integrated Receiver Systems for Next Generation Telescopes

Integrated Receiver Systems for Next Generation Telescopes

Abstract

New radio telescope designs have wide bandwidths, wide field of view, and massive collecting area, necessitating as many as 1 million individual receiver elements. The low-density, high wafer cost GaAs and InP processes used in today's receivers may not offer the cost, power and integration levels necessary to build these telescopes within budget. RF-CMOS and SiGe processes, with their low wafer costs and high integration levels, could be enabling technology for the next generation of telescopes. A single-chip RF-CMOS receiver has been developed to cover the 300 - 1800 MHz RF band. This receiver integrates a noise-cancelling LNA, RF filters and amplifiers, quadrature direct-conversion mixers, baseband anti-aliasing filters, and six-bit ADCs into a commercially-available 0.18um RF-CMOS process. The receiver is a complete "RF to bits" solution in a single package. When coupled with a simple external LNA optimised for dense phased arrays or other complex feeds, the chip is a functional replacement for discrete RF systems in mid-band SKA pathfinders. Future designs, fabricated in faster CMOS processes may allow for a complete, optimised, one-chip solution.