This paper presents how the BiCMOS055X technology from STMicroelectronics is defined to serve wired, wireless, and satcom applications with a versatile competitive offer. Technology content is described and differences with the previous generation are highlighted. Performances of all the devices (active and passive) are reviewed, including the SiGe HBT reliability. The design platform offers, and related qualification strategy are also discussed.

A novel mobile terminal antenna covering the low LTE and GSM850/900 communication standards (i.e 700-960MHz) is proposed. The two-port antenna is composed of two coupling elements manufactured on a plastic piece using a laser direct structuring technique. To obtain a high port-to-port isolation between the two feeds, a neutralisation technique is applied. Simulated reflection coefficients and total efficiencies are compared to the measured data showing good agreement and competitive performance.

An innovative LDS 4G antenna solution operating in the 698-960 MHz band is presented. It is composed of two radiating elements recombined in a broadband single feed antenna system using a multiband matching circuit design. Matching interfaces are synthesized thanks to lumped components placed on the FR4 PCB supporting the LDS antenna. Measurement shows a reflection coefficient better than -6 dB over the 698-960 MHz band, with a 30% peak total efficiency. Measurement using a realistic phone casing showed the same performances. The proposed approach can be extended to additional bands, offering an innovative antenna solution able to address the multi band challenge related to 4G applications.

This paper describes a tunable matching network, fully integrated in STMicroelectronics 130 nm CMOS SOI technology. It is able to correct, on the 2500-2690 MHz band, the antenna mismatch of a cellular phone due to the user interaction (for example the hand impact):any VSWR of 5:1 can be reduced to a value lower than 2:1.

Nowadays, thanks to the capabilities offered by advanced CMOS and BiCMOS technologies for the design above 60GHz, the improvement of millimeter wave varactors is mandatory. Innovative test structures must be designed to characterize these varactors with low capacitance values (down to aF scale) and an influent parasitic environment. High frequency varactors characterization with reduced pad size and modified metal stack added to an optimized test structure positioning has been validated up to 110GHz.