Design of low power CMOS ultra wide band low noise amplifier using noise canceling technique

This paper presents a design of a low power CMOS ultra-wideband (UWB) low noise amplifier (LNA) using a noise canceling technique with the TSMC 0.18 μm RF CMOS process. The proposed UWB LNA employs a current-reused structure to decrease the total power consumption instead of using a cascade stage. This structure spends the same DC current for operating two transistors simultaneously. The stagger-tuning technique, which was reported to achieve gain flatness in the required frequency, was adopted to have low and high resonance frequency points over the entire bandwidth from 3.1 to 10.6 GHz. The resonance points were set in 3 GHz and 10 GHz to provide enough gain flatness and return loss. In addition, the noise canceling technique was used to cancel the dominant noise source, which is generated by the first transistor. The simulation results show a flat gain (S₂₁>10 dB) with a good input impedance matching less than –10 dB and a minimum noise figure of 2.9 dB over the entire band. The proposed UWB LNA consumed 15.2 mW from a 1.8 V power supply.     

A CMOS low noise amplifier with integrated front-side micromachined inductor

The paper presents the design and characterization of a low noise amplifier (LNA) in a 0.18 μm CMOS process with a novel micromachined integrated stacked inductor. The inductor is released from the silicon substrate by a low-cost CMOS compatible dry front-side micromachining process that enables higher inductor quality factor and self-resonance frequency. The post-processed micromachined inductor is used in the matching network of a single stage cascode 4 GHz LNA to improve its RF performance. This study compares performance of the fabricated LNA prior to and after post-processing of the inductor. The measurement results show a 0.5 dB improvement in the minimum noise figure and a 1 dB increase in gain, while good input matching is maintained. These results show that the novel low-cost CMOS compatible front-side dry micromachining process reported here significantly improves performance and is very promising for System-On-Chip (SOC) applications.     

Design of 3.1–10.6 GHz ultra-wideband CMOS low noise amplifier with current reuse technique

A new low complexity ultra-wideband 3.1–10.6 GHz low noise amplifier (LNA), designed in a chartered 0.18 μm RFCMOS technology, is presented in this paper. The ultra-wideband LNA only consists of two simple amplifiers with an inter-stage inductor connected. The first stage utilizing a resistive current reuse and dual inductive degeneration techniques is used to attain a wideband input matching and low noise figure. A common source amplifier with inductive peaking technique as the second stage achieves high flat gain and wide the −3 dB bandwidth of the overall amplifier simultaneously. The implemented ultra-wideband LNA presents a maximum power gain of 15.6 dB, a high reverse isolation of −45 dB and a good input/output return losses are better than −10 dB in the frequency range of 3.1–10.6 GHz. An excellent noise figure (NF) of 2.8–4.7 dB was obtained in the required band with a power dissipation of 14.1 mW under a supply voltage of 1.5 V. An input-referred third-order intercept point (IIP3) is −7.1 dBm at 6 GHz. The chip area including testing pads is only 0.8 mm × 0.9 mm.     

X波段低噪声放大器设计

针对目前X波段低噪声放大器的电路拓扑结构不易选择,故提出了一种采用微带分支线匹配结构和三级级联方式的X波段低噪声放大器(LNA)。放大器选用NEC低噪声放大管NE3210S01,利用ADS(Advanced Design System)软件设计、仿真、优化,放大器实测结果表明:在9.2 GHz～9.6 GHz频带内,噪声系数小于1.7 dB,带内增益达到33.5 dB,带内增益平坦度ΔG≤±0.3 dB,输入、输出驻波比均小于1.5。该放大器已应用于X波段接收机,效果良好,其设计方法可供工程应用参考。     

Design of low power UWB LNA based on common source topology with current-reused technique

This paper presents two low power UWB LNAs with common source topology. The power reduction is achieved by the current-reused technique. The gain and noise enhancement of the proposed circuit is based on an output buffer which is used by a common source amplifier with shunt–shunt feedback. Chip1 is an adopted T-match input network of 50 Ω matching in the required band. Measurements show that the S₁₁ and S₂₂ are less than −10 dB, and the maximum amplifier gain S₂₁ gives 9.7 dB, and the noise figure is 4.2 dB, the IIP3 is −8.5 dBm, and the power consumption is 11 mW from 1.1 V supply voltage. The input matching of chip2 is adopted from a LC high pass filter and source degenerated inductor. The output buffer with the RC-feedback topology can improve the gain, increase the IIP3, restrain the noise, improve the noise figure and decrease the DC power dissipation. Measurements show 13.2 dB of power gain, 3.33 dB of noise figure, and the IIP3 is −3.3 dBm. It consumes 9.3 mW from 1.5 V supply voltage. These two chips are implemented in a 0.18 μm TSMC CMOS process.     

A low noise amplifier with automatically Q-tuned notch filter

A low noise amplifier with automatically Q-tuned notch filter is proposed. The automatic Q tuning is achieved by an analog-digital mixed circuit, in which the successive approximation register algorithm is used to search for the appropriate current value through the resonator so that the losses of the resonator are perfectly cancelled to get a deep notch.     

A SiGe HBT low noise amplifier using on-chip notch filter for K band wireless communication

In this paper a new notch filter topology has firstly been described. In order to improve the input match as well as enhance the gain on the operating frequency of 20.5 GHz, extra capacitor has firstly been added in the passive base-collector notch filter forming a new scheme, eliminating the operating-frequency (op) input mismatch in formal base-collector notch filters. EM simulations have shown that the LNA obtained 14.1 dB gain at 20.5 GHz and high image-rejection ratio (IRR) of 33.5 dB at image frequency of 15 GHz, and S₁₁ of -15 dB was obtained compared to −8 dB without notch filter at operating frequency, NF was below 5 dB at gain peak frequency, power consumption was 18 mW at 3 V voltage supply, and IIP3 was 3.43 dBm ensuring a high linearity in SiGe bipolar process.     

Linearization technique using bipolar transistor at 5 GHz low noise amplifier

A CMOS low noise amplifier (LNA) used in wireless communication systems, such as WLAN and CDMA, must have low noise figure, high linearity, and sufficient gain. Several techniques have been proposed to improve the linearity of CMOS LNA circuits. The proposed low noise amplifier achieves high third-order input intercept point (IIP3) using multi-gated configuration technique, by using two transistors, the first is the main CMOS transistor, and the second is bipolar transistor in TSMC 0.18 m technology. Bipolar transistor is used to cancel the third-order component from MOS transistor to fulfill high linearity operation. This work is designed and fabricated in TSMC 0.18 m CMOS process. At 5 GHz, the proposed LNA achieves a measurement results as 16 dBm of IIP3, 10.5 dB of gain, 2.1 dB of noise figure, and 8 mW of power consumption.     

CMOS毫米波低功耗超宽带共栅低噪声放大器

陈述了一个基于单端共栅与共源共栅级联结构的超宽带低噪声放大器(LNA).该LNA用标准90-nm RFCMOS工艺实现并具有如下特征:在28.5～39 GHz频段内测得的平坦增益大于10 dB;-3 dB带宽从27～42 GHz达到了15 GHz,这几乎覆盖了整个Ka带;最小噪声系数(NF)为4.2dB,平均NF在27 ～ 42 GHz频段内为5.1 dB;S11在整个测试频段内小于-11 dB.40 GHz处输入三阶交调点(IIP3)的测试值为+2 dBm.整个电路的直流功耗为5.3 mW.包括焊盘在内的芯片面积为0.58 mm×0.48 mm.     

A highly linear CMOS low noise amplifier for K-band applications

This paper describes a highly linear low noise amplifier (LNA) for K-band applications in a 0.18 µm RF CMOS technology. The core of the circuit is a two-stage LNA consisting of a common-source and a cascode stage. By adopting an improved post-linearisation technique at the common-source transistor of the second stage, more than 5 dB improvement in IIP3 is achieved with a minor effect on noise figure and input matching. The circuit level analysis and simulation results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique.     

CMOS全差分超宽带低噪声放大器

文中给出了一个应用于超宽带射频接收机中的全集成低噪声放大器,该低噪声放大器采用了电阻并联负反馈与源极退化电感技术的结合,为全差分结构,在Jazz0.18μm RF CMOS工艺下实现,芯片面积为1.08mm2,射频端ESD抗击穿电压为1.4kV。测试结果表明,在1.8V电源电压下,该LNA的工作频带为3.1～4.7GHz,功耗为14.9mW,噪声系数(NF)为1.91～3.24dB,输入三阶交调量(IIP3)为-8dBm。     

A novel simultaneous noise and input VSWR matching technique for broadband LNA

The Simultaneous Noise and Input Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) Matching (SNIM) condition for Low Noise Amplifier (LNA), in principle, can only be satisfied at a single frequency. In this paper, by analyzing the fundamental limitations of the narrowband SNIM technique for the broadband application, the authors present a broadband SNIM LNA systematic design technique. The designed LNA guided by the proposed methodology achieves 10 dB power gain with a low Noise Figure (NF) of 0.53 dB. Meanwhile, it provides wonderful input matching of 27 dB across the frequency range of 3∼5 GHz. Therefore, broadband SNIM is realized.     

A resistive-feedback LNA in 65 nm CMOS with a gate inductor for bandwidth extension

In order to get a wideband and flat gain, a resistive-feedback LNA using a gate inductor to extend bandwidth is proposed in this paper. This LNA is based on an improved resistive-feedback topology with a source follower feedback to match input. A relative small inductor is connected in series to transistor׳s gate, which boosts transistor׳s effective transconductance, compensates gain loss and then leads the proposed LNA with a flat gain and wider bandwidth. Moreover, the LNA׳s noise is partially inhibited by the gate inductor, especially at high frequency. Realized in standard 65-nm CMOS process, this LNA dissipates 12 mW from a 1.5-V supply while its core area is 0.076 mm². Across 0.4–10.6 GHz band, the proposed LNA provides 9.5±0.9 dB power gain (S₂₁), better than −11-dB input matching, 3.5-dB minimum noise figure, and higher than −17.2-dBm P_1 dB.     

具有带外抑制特性的Ka波段低功耗低噪声放大器

基于0.15μm GaAs赝配高电子迁移率晶体管(PHEMT)工艺,成功研制了一款30~34 GHz频带内具有带外抑制特性的低功耗低噪声放大器(LNA)微波单片集成电路(MMIC)。该MMIC集成了滤波器和LNA,其中滤波器采用陷波器结构,可实现较低的插入损耗和较好的带外抑制特性;LNA采用单电源和电流复用结构,实现较高的增益和较低的功耗。测试结果表明,该MMIC芯片在30~34 GHz频带内,增益大于28 dB,噪声系数小于2.8 dB,功耗小于60 mW,在17~19 GHz频带内带外抑制比小于-35 dBc。芯片尺寸为2.40 mm×1.00 mm。该LNA MMIC可应用于毫米波T/R系统中。     

A process-tolerant out-of-band blocker rejection technique for SAW-less receivers

In this paper, an active filtering technique is presented which is capable of filtering the out-of-band blockers in wireless receivers. The concept is based on the feedforward cancellation technique where a blocker replica is subtracted at the output of the low-noise amplifier (LNA). In contrast to the previously reported feedforward cancellation methods, exact gain and phase matching are easily obtained in the proposed architecture to produce a highly selective narrowband frequency response at the output of the LNA with wide rejection bandwidth. For the proof of concept, the system is implemented in a 65 nm CMOS technology. It occupies a total area of 0.8 mm² and the current consumption is 24 mA from a 1.2 V supply. The system post-layout simulations showed a blocker rejection of more than 33 dB for blocker signals 100 MHz away from the desired signal when the feedforward path is activated. The noise figure (NF) of the entire system is 3.8 dB that degrades to 5.8 dB when the feedforward path is activated.     

A low phase noise and low spur PLL with auto frequency control circuit for L1-band GPS receiver

A low phase noise and low spur phase-locked loop (PLL) for L1-band global positioning system receiver is proposed in this paper. For obtaining low phase noise for PLL, All-PMOS LC-VCO with varactor-smoothing technique and noise-filtering technique is adopted. To reduce the reference spur, a low current-mismatch charge pump is carefully designed. A quasi-closed-loop auto frequency control circuit is used to accelerate the lock process of PLL. The PLL is fabricated in 180 nm CMOS Mixed-Signal process while it operates under 1.8 V supply voltage. The measured output frequency of PLL is 1.571 GHz and output power is −1.418 dBm. The in-band phase noise is −98.1 dBc/Hz @ 100 kHz, while the out-band phase noise is −130.3 dBc/Hz @ 1 MHz. The reference spur is −75.8 dBc at 16.368 MHz offset. When quasi closed-loop AFC is working, the measured lock time is about 10.2 μs.     

Hilbert-shaped complementary single split ring resonator and low-pass filter with ultra-wide stopband, excellent selectivity and low insertion-loss

A novel Hilbert-shaped complementary single split ring resonator (H-CSSRR) with an alterative split gap was initially presented and studied. Transmission characteristics of several CSSRR cells were assessed by full-wave electromagnetic (EM) simulation and analyzed by electrical simulation (equivalent circuit model). Miniaturization mechanism as well as effective EM parameters retrieval is also involved. Comparing to conventional CSSRR, proposed H-CSSRR was demonstrated with a merit of lower primary transmission zero realized by negative effective permittivity and multi-resonance behavior attributing to self-similarity of Hilbert geometry. For application, a tunable assembled low-pass filter (LPF) by periodically loading H-CSSRR cells and open stubs is designed, fabricated and measured. Measurement results indicate that the designed LPF has many good performances such as relative low insertion loss (maximum 0.59 dB) in passband, ultra-wide stop-band characterized by 20 dB insertion loss (from 2.45 to 25 GHz) as well as steep rejection with sharp transition band (2.15–2.45 GHz) out of band. Excellent property and consistent numerical and experimental results of the developed LPF have confirmed the effectiveness of this design concept.