apanese manufacturers are getting serious about developing their own millimeter-wave communication ICs. Three companies – Hitachi, Panasonic Corp., and Toshiba Corp – have disclosed they are independently developing 60GHz-waveband radio frequency (RF) transceiver ICs. All three hope to make ultra-small transceiver modules with integrated antennas, for use in digital home electronics (Fig. 1). The first products could appear as early as the second half of 2010. Hitachi’s millimeter-wave transceiver module (a) integrates LNA, mixer, VCO, etc. Mockup of Toshiba’s single-chip RF transceiver (b). Panasonic’s millimeter-wave transceiver module mockup (c). Radio communication in the 60GHz band can utilize a frequency bandwidth of about 7GHz, making it possible to assure high-speed throughput on the order of Gbit/s (Table 1). The IEEE802 Committee has already released the IEEE802.15.3c standard for high-speed millimeter-wave communication in consumer applications, and home electronics manufacturers around a core group including Sony Corp. and Panasonic has drawn up the WirelessHD standard.
Table 1 Comparison of Energy per Unit Transmitted Information
Until now, however, Japanese manufacturers have not been actively developing millimeter-wave communication ICs. Market potential was largely unknown, so that the industry, as one equipment engineer puts it, “never made any, even after a standard was released.” The wind shifted with the release of audio-visual (AV) equipment such as TVs actually utilizing millimeter waves. Equipment complying with the WirelessHD standard utilizing chipsets from SiBEAM, Inc. was released by Panasonic, LG Electronics, Inc., and others. Expectations are rising for market growth, supported also by an increasing number of plans to equip mobile equipment with Gbit/s-class wireless communication functionality.
Wireless Transfer of High-Definition Imagery in the Home
Hitachi plans to use millimeter-wave communication to transfer high-definition (HD) video streams between AV equipment, such as wall-screen TVs and Blu-ray Disc recorders. According to Masaki Noda, Chief Researcher, Consumer Electronics Laboratory at the firm, “There already are a few products that use radio frequencies to transfer HD video streams in the home. We believe we can utilize the high speed of millimeter waves in these applications first of all.” Hitachi has already prototyped a CMOS receiver IC, a module combining the IC with an antenna and other items supporting data communication in compliance with 802.15.3c. The receiver IC was manufactured using 130nm CMOS technology, and integrates components including a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), mixer, and low-noise amplifier (LNO). Innovations in antenna connection, bump architecture, and other points made it possible to reduce insertion loss from chip to antenna to only about 1dB, says a source at Hitachi. The rear of the module has a receiver antenna array and a separate transmitter antenna array. Hitachi adopted the dual antenna design, eliminating the switch because when a common antenna is switched between the two functions, the effect of antenna switch insertion loss increases. The baseband circuit, media access control (MAC) circuit, and other features are implemented in field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) and other components. In the future, the company hopes to boost the integration level and single-chip the whole transceiver.
Transferring a CD in About 5s
Panasonic is aiming at applications in mobile phones, which is why (says a source at the firm) they are hoping to single-chip the whole package using CMOS technology. They envision embedding the functionality into portable gear, and downloading music, video, or other content from kiosks. As with Hitachi, they also comply with 802.15.3c. According to Panasonic, millimeter-wave communication at 1Gbit/s makes it possible to download a 640MB CD in only about 5s, or a 2-hour standard-definition (SD) quality video in about 9s. Toshiba believes that high-speed millimeter-wave communication will make it possible to achieve completely cordless digital equipment. The firm is now working on an RF transceiver IC that uses the semiconductor chip bonding wires as the antenna, hoping to achieve a single-chip solution that can be made with CMOS technology and does not require a dedicated antenna or other dedicated components.
