A Millimeter-Wave CMOS LC-Tank VCO With an Admittance-Transforming Technique

A novel circuit topology suitable for millimeter-wave voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) is presented. With the admittance-transforming technique, the proposed VCO can operate at a frequency close to the f_max of the transistors while maintaining remarkable circuit performance in terms of phase noise, tuning range, and output power. Using a standard micrometer CMOS process, a U-band VCO is implemented for demonstration. The fabricated circuit exhibits a frequency tuning range of 1.1 GHz in the vicinity of 50 GHz. The measured output power and phase noise at 1-MHz offset are -11 dBm and -101 dBc/Hz, respectively. Operated at a supply voltage of 1.8 V, the VCO core consumes a DC power of 45 mW.     

A High-Performance CMOS Voltage-Controlled Oscillator for Ultra-Low-Voltage Operations

In this paper, a novel circuit topology of voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) suitable for ultra-low-voltage operations is presented. By utilizing the capacitive feedback and the forward-body-bias (FBB) technique, the proposed VCO can operate at reduced supply voltage and power consumption while maintaining remarkable circuit performance in terms of phase noise, tuning range, and output swing. Using a standard 0.18-mum CMOS process, a 5.6-GHz VCO is designed and fabricated for demonstration. Consuming a dc power of 3 mW from a 0.6-V supply voltage, the VCO exhibits a frequency tuning range of 8.1% and a phase noise of -118 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset frequency. With an FBB for the cross-coupled transistors, the fabricated circuit can operate at a supply voltage as low as 0.4 V. The measured tuning range and phase noise are 6.4% and -114 dBc/Hz, respectively     

A 15/30-GHz Dual-Band Multiphase Voltage-Controlled Oscillator in 0.18- μm CMOS

A multiphase oscillator suitable for 15/30-GHz dual-band applications is presented. In the circuit implementation, the 15-GHz half-quadrature voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) is realized by a rotary traveling-wave oscillator, while frequency doublers are adopted to generate the quadrature output signals at the 30-GHz frequency band. The proposed circuit is fabricated in a standard 0.18-mum CMOS process with a chip area of 1.1times1.0 mm². Operated at a 2-V supply voltage, the VCO core consumes a dc power of 52 mW. With a frequency tuning range of 250 MHz, the 15-GHz half-quadrature VCO exhibits an output power of -8 dBm and a phase noise of -112 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset frequency. The measured power level and phase noise of the 30-GHz quadrature outputs are -16 dBm and -104 dBc/Hz, respectively     

A 32-GHz Rotary Traveling-Wave Voltage Controlled Oscillator in 0.18-μm CMOS

A millimeter-wave multiphase voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) is presented. In order to facilitate high-frequency oscillation and to minimize the phase error caused by the device and layout mismatch, a rotary traveling-wave topology based on transmission lines with inductive loading is employed for the circuit implementation. Using a 0.18-mum CMOS process, the fabricated VCO provides half- quadrature output phases at 32 GHz. The measured output power and phase noise at 1-MHz offset are -9 dBm and -108 dBc/Hz, respectively. Operated at a supply voltage of 1.2 V, the power consumption of the proposed circuit is 54 mW.     

A 900-MHz 1-V CMOS frequency synthesizer

A 900-MHz 1-V frequency synthesizer has been fabricated in a standard 0.35-μm CMOS technology. The frequency synthesizer consists of a divide-by-128/129 and 64/65 dual-modulus prescaler, phase-frequency detector, charge pump, and voltage-doubler circuit with an external voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) and passive loop filter. The on-chip voltage-doubler circuit converts the 1-V supply voltage to the higher voltage which supplies the prescaler internally. In this way, the 900-MHz 1-V frequency synthesizer with an external VCO can be achieved. The measured phase noise is -112.7 dBc/Hz at a 100-kHz offset from the carrier, and the synthesizer dissipates 3.56 mW (not including VCOs) from a single 1-V supply when the switching frequency of the on-chip voltage doubler is 200 kHz and the power efficiency of the voltage doubler is 77.8%. The total chip area occupies 0.73 mm²     

An Integrated 5–2.5-GHz Direct-Injection Locked Quadrature LC VCO

This letter presents an integrated direct-injection locked quadrature voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), consisted of a 5-GHz VCO integrated with injection locked LC frequency dividers for low-power quadrature generation. The circuit is implemented using a standard 0.18-mum CMOS process. The differential VCO is a full PMOS Colpitts oscillator, and the frequency divider is performed by adding an injection nMOS between the differential outputs of complementary cross-coupled np-core LC VCO. The measurement results show that at the supply voltage of 1.8-V, the master 5-GHz VCO is tunable from 4.73 to 5.74GHz, and the slave 2.5-GHz VCO is tunable from 2.36 to 2.87GHz. The measured phase noise of master VCO is -118.2dBc/Hz while the locked quadrature output phase noise is -124.4dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset frequency, which is 6.2dB lower than the master VCO. The core power consumptions are 7.8 and 8.7mW at master and slave VCOs, respectively     

A fully integrated 1.5-V 5.5-GHz CMOS phase-locked loop

A 1.5-V 5.5-GHz fully integrated phase-locked loop (PLL) has been implemented in a 0.25-μm foundry digital CMOS process. From a 5.5-GHz carrier, the in-band phase noise can be as low as -88 dBc/Hz at a 40-kHz offset, while the phase noise for the free-running VCO is -116 dBc/Hz at an 1-MHz offset. The VCO core current is 4.6 mA. The prescaler is implemented using a variation of the source-coupled logic (SCL) structure to reduce the switching noise, and thus to reduce the PLL side-band spurs. At -18 dBm signal power measured off chip, the switching noise coupled through substrate and metal interconnect generates spurs with power levels less than -99 dBm when the loop is open. A new charge-pump circuit is developed to reduce the current glitch at the output node. By incorporating a voltage doubler, the voltage dynamic range at the charge-pump output and thus the VCO control voltage range is increased from 1.3 to 2.6 V with immeasurable phase noise and spurious level degradation to the PLL. When the loop is closed, the power levels of side-band spurs at the offset frequency equal to the ~43-MHz reference frequency are < -69 dBc. The total power consumption of the PLL including that for the output buffers is ~23 mW     

A 25-GHz ultra-low phase noise InGaP/GaAs HBT VCO

A 25-GHz monolithic voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) has been designed and fabricated in a commercial InGaP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) process. This balanced VCO has a novel topology using a feedback /spl pi/-network and a common-emitter transistor configuration. Ultra-low phase noise is achieved: -106 dBc/Hz and -130 dBc/Hz at 100kHz and 1-MHz offset frequency, respectively. To the authors' knowledge, this is the lowest phase noise achieved in a monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) VCO at such high frequency. The single-ended output power is -1 dBm. It can be tuned between 25.33GHz and 25.75GHz using the base-collector junction capacitor of the HBT as a varactor. The dc power consumption is 90mW for a 9-V supply. An excellent figure-of-merit of -195 dBc/Hz is obtained.     

A Q-band low phase noise monolithic AlGaN/GaN HEMT VCO

A Q-band 40-GHz GaN monolithic microwave integrated circuit voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) based on AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor technology has been demonstrated. The GaN VCO delivered an output power of +25dBm with phase noise of -92dBc/Hz at 100-KHz offset, and -120dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset. To the best of our knowledge, this represents the state-of-the-art for GaN VCOs in terms of frequency, output power, and phase noise performance. This work demonstrates the potential for the use of GaN technology for high frequency, high power, and low phase noise frequency sources for military and commercial applications.     

A low phase noise silicon 18-GHz push-push VCO

The design and measurement of a push-push voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) at 18.66-18.3 GHz are presented in this paper. The circuit includes two packaged silicon transistors (Siemens BFP 540F) and a microstrip resonator tuned by two GaAs varactor diodes (M/A-COM ML46580). A 360-MHz tuning range is obtained with an output power of 0-3.1 dBm. The fundamental rejection is around 17 dB for a wide range of collector bias current. The phase noise is below -103 dBc/Hz at 100-kHz offset and below -122 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz for the entire tuning bandwidth.     

A compact 43-GHz monolithic differential VCO in 0.5-/spl mu/m InP DHBT technology

A compact monolithic integrated differential voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) using 0.5-/spl mu/m emitter width InP/InGaAs double-heterostructure bipolar transistors with a total chip size of 0.42 mm /spl times/ 0.46 mm is realized by using cross-coupled configuration for extremely high frequency satellite communications system applications. The device performance of F/sub max/ greater than 320 GHz at a current density of 5 mA//spl mu/m/sup 2/ and 5-V BVceo allows us to achieve a low phase noise 42.5-GHz fundamental VCO with -0.67-dBm output power. The VCO exhibits the phase noise of -106.8 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset and -122.3 dBc/Hz at 10-MHz offset from the carrier frequency.     

5-GHz Low Power Current-Reused Balanced CMOS Differential Armstrong VCOs

This letter proposes 5-GHz low power differential Armstrong voltage controlled oscillators (VCOs) based on balanced topology. One designed VCO uses two single-ended Armstrong VCOs coupled to each other in parallel by balanced structure. The other current-reused VCO uses two single-ended Armstrong VCOs stacked in series. The former VCO oscillates from 4.96 to 5.34GHz and the power consumption is 3.9mW at 0.6-V supply voltage. The latter operates from 4.98 to 5.45GHz and dissipates 2.59mW at 1.8-V supply voltage. The measured phase noises are about -116.71dBc/Hz and -110.02dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset frequency from 5.1-GHz band, respectively. The former and the latter VCO have an advantage of low power consumption and provide a good figure of merit of about -185dBc/Hz and -180dBc/Hz, respectively     

Analysis and Implementation of a 0.9-V Voltage-Controlled Oscillator With Low Phase Noise and Low Power Dissipation

A voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) with low phase noise and low power dissipation for IEEE 802.11b is proposed. A negative resistance multiple-gated circuit with a bypass capacitor is adopted to improve phase noise. The chip is implemented in 0.18-$mu{hbox {m}}$ CMOS process under a supply voltage of 0.9 V and power consumption of 2.7 mW. Its measured results show that the VCO has a phase noise of $-$122.3 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset frequency from the carrier frequency, and the tuning frequency from 2.17 to 2.73 GHz can be obtained under the tuning voltage of $-$0.9 to 0.9 V. The theoretical analysis and design consideration are also conducted in detail to show the benefits of the proposed VCO.      

Millimeter-wave voltage-controlled oscillators in 0.13-/spl mu/m CMOS technology

This paper describes the design of CMOS millimeter-wave voltage controlled oscillators. Varactor, transistor, and inductor designs are optimized to reduce the parasitic capacitances. An investigation of tradeoff between quality factor and tuning range for MOS varactors at 24 GHz has shown that the polysilicon gate lengths between 0.18 and 0.24 /spl mu/m result both good quality factor (>12) and C/sub max//C/sub min/ ratio (/spl sim/3) in the 0.13-/spl mu/m CMOS process used for the study. The components were utilized to realize a VCO operating around 60 GHz with a tuning range of 5.8 GHz. A 99-GHz VCO with a tuning range of 2.5 GHz, phase noise of -102.7 dBc/Hz at 10-MHz offset and power consumption of 7-15mW from a 1.5-V supply and a 105-GHz VCO are also demonstrated. This is the CMOS circuit with the highest fundamental operating frequency. The lumped element approach can be used even for VCOs operating near 100-GHz and it results a smaller circuit area.     

A Low Voltage and Power LC VCO Implemented With Dynamic Threshold Voltage MOSFETS

A 1.1-GHz voltage control oscillator (VCO) using a standard 0.18-mum CMOS 1P6M process is fabricated. The VCO was designed with dynamic threshold voltage metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors and extremely-low-voltage and low power operation is achieved using on-chip transformers in positive feedback loops to swing the output signals above the supply and below the ground potential. This dual-swing capability maximizes the carrier power and achieves low-voltage performance. This VCO prototype is designed for a 0.34-V supply voltage while the output phase noise is -121.2dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset frequency at the carrier frequency of 1.14GHz, the figure of merit is -192.0dB. The total power consumption is 103.7muW with the 0.34-V supply voltage. Tuning range is from 1.06 to 1.14GHz about 80MHz while the control voltage was tuned from 0 to 1.8V. The die area is 0.625times0.79mm²     

A low-phase-noise and low-power multiband CMOS voltage-controlled oscillator

A low voltage multiband all-pMOS VCO was fabricated in a 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS process. By using a combination of inductor and capacitor switching, four band (2.4, 2.5, 4.7, and 5 GHz) operation was realized using a single VCO. The VCO with an 1-V power supply has phase noises at 1-MHz offset from a 4.7-GHz carrier of -126 dBc/Hz and -134 dBc/Hz from a 2.4-GHz carrier. The VCO consumes 4.6 mW at 2.4 and 2.5 GHz, and 6 mW at 4.7 and 5 GHz, respectively. At 4.7 GHz, the VCO also achieves -80 dBc/Hz phase noise at 10-kHz offset with 2 mW power consumption.     

A Low-Voltage Quadrature CMOS VCO Based on Voltage-Voltage Feedback Topology

A novel low-voltage quadrature voltage-controlled oscillator (QVCO) with voltage feedback to the input gate of a switching amplifier is proposed and implemented using the standard TSMC 0.18-mum CMOS 1P6M process. The proposed circuit topology is made up of two low-voltage LC-tank VCOs, where the coupled QVCO is obtained using the transformer coupling technique. At the 0.7-V supply voltage, the output phase noise of the VCO is -124.9 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset frequency from the carrier frequency of 2.4GHz, and the figure of merit is -185.35dBc/Hz. Total power consumption is 5.18 mW. Tuning range is about 135 MHz while the control voltage was tuned from 0 to 0.7V     

A 1.8-V 2.4/5.15-GHz dual-band LCVCO in 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS technology

A dual band, fully integrated, low phase-noise and low-power LC voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) operating at the 2.4-GHz industrial scientific and medical band and 5.15-GHz unlicensed national information infrastructure band has been demonstrated in an 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS process. At 1.8-V power supply voltage, the power dissipation is only 5.4mW for a 2.4-GHz band and 8mW for a 5.15-GHz band. The proposed VCO features phase-noise of -135dBc/Hz at 3-MHz offset frequency away from the carrier frequency of 2.74GHz and -126dBc/Hz at 3-MHz offset frequency away from 5.49GHz. The oscillator is tuned from 2.2 to 2.85GHz in the low band (2.4-GHz band) and from 4.4 to 5.7GHz in the high band (5.15-GHz band).     

Design of Wide-Tuning-Range Millimeter-Wave CMOS VCO With a Standing-Wave Architecture

The design of a wide-tuning-range millimeter-wave CMOS VCO is presented in this paper. In contrast to the conventional wideband topologies, a nonuniform standing-wave oscillator utilizing tapered gain elements, switched transmission lines and distributed varactors is employed to provide an extended output range with the coarse and fine frequency tuning. Due to the use of the transmission line architecture and the position-dependent amplitude of the standing waves, the loading effects of the varactors and the MOS switches can be alleviated, enabling the VCO to operate at higher frequencies. Using a 0.18-mum CMOS process, a 40-GHz VCO is designed and implemented. Consuming a DC power of 27 mW from a 1.5-V supply voltage, the fabricated circuit exhibits a frequency tuning range of 7.5 GHz with an output power level ranging from -13.6 to -4 dBm. The measured phase noise at 1-MHz offset is lower than -96 dBc/Hz within the entire frequency range. This work demonstrates the widest tuning range in percentage among the CMOS VCOs at millimeter-wave frequencies.     

An Ultra-Compact Differentially Tuned 6-GHz CMOS LC-VCO With Dynamic Common-Mode Feedback

A fully integrated 0.024 mm² differentially tuned 6-GHz LC-VCO for 6+Gb/s high-speed serial (HSS) links in 90-nm bulk CMOS is presented. It is smaller than any LC-VCO reported to date at this frequency. Its size is comparable with ring oscillators but it has significantly better phase noise. A circuit technique is introduced to dynamically set the common-mode (CM) voltage of the differential varactor control signals equal to the VCO's CM. Compared to other commonly used techniques such as replica biasing, this technique does not dissipate any extra power and it accurately tracks the output common-mode voltage of the VCO during the oscillations. Using a differential control a very wide tuning range from 4.5 GHz to 7.1 GHz (45%) is achieved. The VCO has a measured phase noise of -117.7 dBc/Hz at a 3-MHz offset from a 5.63-GHz carrier while dissipating 14 mW from a 1.6-V supply.