Ultra low voltage, ultra low power low noise amplifier for 2 GHz applications

In this paper, a 0.29 V, 2 GHz CMOS low noise amplifier (LNA) intended for ultra low voltage and ultra low power applications is developed. The circuit is simulated in standard 0.18 μm CMOS MOSIS. A two-stage architecture is then used to simultaneously optimize the gain and noise performance. Using forward-body-biased, the proposed LNA can operate at 0.29 V supply voltage, successfully demonstrating the application potential of dynamic threshold voltage technology in the radio frequency region. The LNA provides a good gain of 26.25 dB, a noise figure of 2.202 dB, reverse isolation (S₁₂) of −59.04 dB, input return loss (S₁₁) of −122.66 dB and output return loss (S₂₂) of -11.61 dB, while consuming only 0.96mW dc power with an ultra low supply voltage of 0.29 V. To the best of authors’ knowledge this is the lowest voltage supply and the lowest power consumption CMOS LNA design reported for 2 GHz to date.     

5–11 GHz CMOS PA with 158.9 ± 41 ps group delay and low power using current-reused technique

This paper proposes the design of a low group delay and low power ultra-wideband (UWB) power amplifier (PA) in 0.18 μm CMOS technology. The PA design employs two stages cascade with inductive peaking technique to provide broad bandwidth characteristic and higher gain while gain flatness can be achieved by connecting inter-stage circuit. A common gate current-reused technique is adopted at the first stage amplifier to achieve good input matching, low group delay and low power. The simulation results show that the proposed PA design has an average gain of 11.5 dB with flatness of ±0.4 dB from 5–11 GHz, while maintaining bandwidth of 4.2–12.3 GHz. An input return loss (S₁₁) less than −10.4 dB and output return loss (S₂₂) less than −9.5 dB, respectively are obtained. The PA design achieves excellent phase linearity (i.e., group delay variation) of ±41 ps and only consuming 17 mW power from 1.2 V supply voltage. A good output 1-dB compression point OP1 dB of 3.7 dBm is obtained. By using this method, the proposed design has low group delay variation and lowest power among the recently reported UWB CMOS PAs applications.     

A SiGe LC-ladder low noise amplifier with base resistance match,gain and noise flatness for UWB applications

This study presents a 3.1–10.6 GHz ultra-wideband low noise amplifier (UWB LNA) in 0.18 µm SiGe HBT technology. To achieve a good input match, parasitic base resistance in a bipolar transistor and an LC-ladder filter are included into calculations with the common-emitter topology using shunt–shunt capacitive feedback. Both high and flat power gain (S₂₁) and low and flat noise figure (NF) are achieved by adjusting the pole and zero in amplifying stage and quality factors of the fourth-order input network. Design equations for performances such as gain, noise figure and linearity IIP3 are derived especially on gain flatness and noise flatness. LNA dissipates 33 mW power and achieves S₂₁ of 20.65+0.7 dB, NF of 2.79+0.2 dB over the band of 3.1–10.6 GHz. The simulated input third-order intermodulation point (IIP3) is −17 dBm at 10 GHz.     

A low-power and high-gain fully integrated CMOS LNA

In this paper, we present the design of a fully integrated CMOS low noise amplifier (LNA) with on-chip spiral inductors in 0.18 μm CMOS technology for 2.4 GHz frequency range. Using cascode configuration, lower power consumption with higher voltage and power gain are achieved. In this configuration, we managed to have a good trade off among low noise, high gain, and stability. Using common-gate (CG) configuration, we reduced the parasitic effects of C_gd and therefore alleviated the stability and linearity of the amplifier. This configuration provides more reverse isolation that is also important in LNA design. The LNA presented here offers a good noise performance. Complete simulation analysis of the circuit results in center frequency of 2.4 GHz, with 37.6 dB voltage gain, 2.3 dB noise figure (NF), 50 Ω input impedance, 450 MHz 3 dB power bandwidth, 11.2 dB power gain (S₂₁), high reverse isolation (S₁₂)<−60 dB, while dissipating 2.7 mW at 1.8 V power supply.     

改进型双频段低噪声放大器设计

设计了一种电流复用结构的双频段低噪声放大器,其中心频率为900 MHz和1 900 MHz。为减少芯片面积和提高电路性能,给出了一种改进的输入端和级间匹配网络,利用小电感LC网络代替大电感的栅极电感Lg和级间电感Ld1。仿真结果表明:该低噪放在两个需要的频带内功率增益(S21)大于16.0 dB;输入反射系数(S11)小于-18.6 dB;输出反射系数(S22)小于-12 dB;反向隔离(S12)小于-40 dB;噪声系数(NF)小于2.8 dB;线性度(IP3)大于-9.5 dBm。设计采用SMIC 0.18μmCMOS工艺,功耗为8.64 mW,电源电压1.8 V。     

用于无线局域网的双频段低噪声放大器

采用0.18μmCMOS工艺设计并制造了一款新型的应用于无线局域网的双频段低噪声放大器。设计中,通过切换输入电感和负载电感,来使电路分别工作在2.4GHz和5.2GHz频段。在1.8V的电源电压下,在2.4GHz和5.2GHz两个频段上,其增益分别达到了11.5dB和10.2dB,噪声系数分别是3dB和5.1dB。芯片总面积是0.9mm×0.65mm。     

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 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.     

Low power high gain CMOS LNA based on inverter cell and self-body bias for UWB receivers

A low-power low-noise amplifier (LNA) utilized a resistive inverter configuration feedback amplifier to achieve the broadband input matching purposes. To achieve low power consumption and high gain, the proposed LNA utilizes a current-reused technique and a splitting-load inductive peaking technique of a resistive-feedback inverter for input matching. Two wideband LNAs are implemented by TSMC 0.18 μm CMOS technology. The first LNA operates at 2–6 GHz. The minimum noise figure is 3.6 dB. The amplifier provides a maximum gain (S₂₁) of 18.5 dB while drawing 10.3 mW from a 1.5-V supply. This chip area is 1.028×0.921 mm². The second LNA operates at 3.1–10.6 GHz. By using self-forward body bias, it can reduce supply voltage as well as save bias current. The minimum noise figure is 4.8 dB. The amplifier provides a maximum gain (S₂₁) of 17.8 dB while drawing 9.67 mW from a 1.2-V supply. This chip area is 1.274×0.771 mm².     

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.     

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.     

A new CMOS wideband low noise amplifier with gain control

In this paper, a new CMOS wideband low noise amplifier (LNA) is proposed that is operated within a range of 470 MHz-3 GHz with current reuse, mirror bias and a source inductive degeneration technique. A two-stage topology is adopted to implement the LNA based on the TSMC 0.18-μm RF CMOS process. Traditional wideband LNAs suffer from a fundamental trade-off in noise figure (NF), gain and source impedance matching. Therefore, we propose a new LNA which obtains good NF and gain flatness performance by integrating two kinds of wideband matching techniques and a two-stage topology. The new LNA can also achieve a tunable gain at different power consumption conditions. The measurement results at the maximum power consumption mode show that the gain is between 11.3 and 13.6 dB, the NF is less than 2.5 dB, and the third-order intercept point (IIP3) is about −3.5 dBm. The LNA consumes maximum power at about 27 mW with a 1.8 V power supply. The core area is 0.55×0.95 mm².     

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.     

A low power high gain UWB LNA in 0.18-μm CMOS

A low power high gain differential UWB low noise amplifier (LNA) operating at 3-5 GHz is presented.A common gate input stage is used for wideband input matching; capacitor cross coupling (CCC) and current reuse techniques are combined to achieve high gain under low power consumption. The prototypes fabricated in 0.18-μm CMOS achieve a peak power gain of 17.5 dB with a -3 dB bandwidth of 2.8-5 GHz, a measured minimum noise figure (NF) of 3.35 dB and -12.6 dBm input-referred compression point at 5 GHz, while drawing 4.4 mA from a 1.8 V supply. The peak power gain is 14 dB under a 4.5 mW power consumption (3 mA from a 1.5 V supply). The proposed differential LNA occupies an area of 1.01 mm~2 including test pads.     

High linearity technique for ultra-wideband low noise amplifier in 0.18 μm CMOS technology

A linearization technique for ultra-wideband low noise amplifier (UWB LNA) has been designed and fabricated in standard 0.18 μm CMOS technology. The proposed technique exploits the complementary characteristics of NMOS and PMOS to improve the linearity performance. A two-stage UWB LNA is optimized to achieve high linearity over the 3.1-10.6 GHz range. The first stage adopts inverter topology with resistive feedback to provide high linearity and wideband input matching, whereas the second stage is a cascode amplifier with series and shunt inductive peaking techniques to extend the bandwidth and achieve high gain simultaneously. The proposed UWB LNA exhibits a measured flat gain of 15 dB within the entire band, a minimum noise figure of 3.5 dB, and an IIP3 of 6.4 dBm while consuming 8 mA from a 1.8 V power supply. The total chip area is 0.39 mm², including all pads. The measured input return loss is kept below −11 dB, and the output return loss is −8 dB, from 3.1 to 10.6 GHz.     

S-band low noise amplifier using 1 μm InGaAs/InAlAs/InP pHEMT

This paper discusses the design of a wideband low noise amplifier (LNA) in which specific architecture decisions were made in consideration of system-on-chip implementation for radio-astronomy applications. The LNA design is based on a novel ultra-low noise InGaAs/InAlAs/InP pHEMT. Linear and non-linear modelling of this pHEMT has been used to design an LNA operating from 2 to 4 GHz. A common-drain in cascade with a common source inductive degeneration, broadband LNA topology is proposed for wideband applications. The proposed configuration achieved a maximum gain of 27 dB and a noise figure of 0.3 dB with a good input and output return loss (S₁₁ < -10 dB, S₂₂ < -11 dB). This LNA exhibits an input 1-dB compression point of -18 dBm, a third order input intercept point of 0 dBm and consumes 85 mW of power from a 1.8 V supply.     

SiGe HBT低噪声放大器的设计与制造

该文设计和制作了一款单片集成硅锗异质结双极晶体管(SiGe HBT)低噪声放大器(LNA)。由于放大器采用复合型电阻负反馈结构,所以可灵活调整不同反馈电阻,同时获得合适的偏置、良好的端口匹配和低的噪声系数。基于0.35 m Si CMOS平面工艺制定了放大器单芯片集成的工艺流程。为了进一步降低放大器的噪声系数,在制作放大器中SiGe器件时,采用钛硅合金(TiSi2)来减小晶体管基极电阻。由于没有使用占片面积大的螺旋电感,最终研制出的SiGe HBT LNA芯片面积仅为0.282 mm2。测试结果表明,在工作频带0.2-1.2 GHz内,LNA噪声系数低至2.5 dB,增益高达26.7 dB,输入输出端口反射系数分别小于-7.4 dB和-10 dB。     

（英）CMOS毫米波低功耗超宽带共栅低噪声放大器

本文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 RF CMOS工艺实现并具有如下特征：在28.5到39 GHz频段内测得的平坦增益大于10 dB;-3 dB带宽从27到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4.2 dB,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*0.48 mm2_。     

A 1-V RF-CMOS LNA design utilizing the technique of capacitive feedback matching network

In this paper, a CMOS low-noise amplifier (LNA) with a new input matching topology has been proposed, analyzed and measured. The input matching network is designed through the technique of capacitive feedback matching network. The proposed LNA which is implemented in a technology is operated at the frequency of 12.8 GHz. It has a gain S21 of 13.2 dB, a noise figure (NF) of 4.57 dB and an NF_min of 4.46 dB. The reverse isolation S12 of the LNA can achieve and the input and output return losses are better than . The input 1-dB compression point is and IIP3 is . This LNA drains 10 mA from the supply voltage of 1 V.     

A broadband Low Noise Amplifier with built-in linearizer in 0.13-µm CMOS process

A linearized ultra-wideband (UWB) CMOS Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) is presented in this paper. The linearity performance is enhanced by exploiting PMOS–NMOS common-gate (CG) inverter as a built-in linearizer which leads to cancel out both the second- and third-order distortions. Two inductors are placed at the drain terminals of CG transistors in the built-in linearizer to adjust the phase and magnitude of the third-order distortion. A second-order band-pass Chebyshev filter is utilized in the input port of common-source (CS) configuration to provide broadband input matching at 3.1–10.6 GHz frequency range to a 50-Ω antenna. Series and shunt peaking techniques are employed to extend the bandwidth (BW) and to flatten the gain response. Simulated in 0.13 µm CMOS technology, the CMOS LNA exhibits state of the art performance consuming 17.92 mW of dc power. The CMOS LNA features a maximum gain of 10.24 dB, 0.9–4.1 dB noise figure (NF), and a third-order input intercept point (IIP3) of 6.8 dBm at 6.3 GHz.