0.18 /spl mu/m 3-6 GHz CMOS broadband LNA for UWB radio

A 3-6 GHz CMOS broadband low noise amplifier (LNA) for ultra-wideband (UWB) radio is presented. The LNA is fabricated with the 0.18 /spl mu/m 1P6M standard CMOS process. Measurement of the CMOS LNA is performed using an FR-4 PCB test fixture. From 3 to 6 GHz, the broadband LNA exhibits a noise figure of 4.7-6.7 dB, a gain of 13-16 dB, and an input/output return loss higher than 12/10 dB, respectively. The input P/sub 1 dB/ and input IP3 (IIP3) at 4.5 GHz are about -14 and -5 dBm, respectively. The DC supply is 1.8 V.     

5.7 GHz low-power variable-gain LNA in 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS

A variable-gain low-noise amplifier (LNA) suitable for low-voltage and low-power operation is designed and implemented in a standard 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS technology. With a current-reused topology, the common-source gain stages are stacked for minimum power dissipation while achieving high small-signal gain. The fully integrated 5.7 GHz LNA exhibits 16.4 dB gain, 3.5 dB noise figure and 8 dB gain tuning range with good input and output return losses. The LNA consumes 3.2 mW DC power from a supply voltage of 1 V. A gain/power quotient of 5.12 dB/mW is achieved in this work.     

Robust sound localization in 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS

This paper presents a hardware implementation of a sound localization algorithm that localizes a single sound source by using the information gathered by two separated microphones. This is achieved through estimating the time delay of arrival (TDOA) of sound at the two microphones. We have used a TDOA algorithm known as the "phase transform" to minimize the effects of reverberations and noise from the environment. Simplifications to the chosen TDOA algorithm were made in order to replace complex operations, such as the cosine function, with less expensive ones, such as iterative additions. The custom digital signal processor implementing this algorithm was designed in a 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS process and tested successfully. The test chip is capable of localizing the direction of a sound source within 2.2/spl deg/ of accuracy, utilizing approximately 30 mW of power and 6.25 mm/sup 2/ of silicon area.     

0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS backplane receiver with decision-feedback equalisation embedded

Decision-feedback equalisation (DFE) is explored to reduce intersymbol interference and crosstalks in high-speed backplane applications. In the design of the clock and data recovery circuit, embedding DFE within a phase and frequency detector enhances the recovery of data inherently from distorted input signals and facilitates providing DFE with the recovered clock.     

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).     

A 5.7-GHz 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS gain-controlled differential LNA with current reuse for WLAN receiver

This letter presents a 5.7 GHz 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS gain-controlled differential LNA for an IEEE 802.11a WLAN application. The differential LNA, fabricated with the 0.18 /spl mu/m 1P6M standard CMOS process, uses a current-reuse technology to increase linear gain and save power consumption. The circuit measurement is performed using an FR-4 PCB test fixture. The LNA exhibits a noise figure of 3.7 dB, linear gain of 12.5 dB, P/sub 1dB/ of -11 dBm, and gain tuning range of 6.9 dB. The power consumption is 14.4 mW at V/sub DD/=1.8 V.     

K-band low-noise amplifiers using 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS technology

Two K-Band low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) are designed and implemented in a standard 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS technology. The 24 GHz LNA has demonstrated a 12.86 dB gain and a 5.6 dB noise figure (NF) at 23.5 GHz. The 26 GHz LNA achieves an 8.9 dB gain at the peak gain frequency of 25.7 GHz and a 6.93 dB NF at 25 GHz. The input referred third-order intercept point (IIP3) is >+2 dBm for both LNAs with a current consumption of 30 mA from a 1.8 V power supply. To our knowledge, the LNAs show the highest operation frequencies ever reported for LNAs in a standard CMOS process.     

A Bluetooth radio in 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS

This paper describes the results of an implementation of a Bluetooth radio in a 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS process. A low-IF image-reject conversion architecture is used for the receiver. The transmitter uses direct IQ-upconversion. The VCO runs at 4.8-5.0 GHz, thus facilitating the generation of 0/spl deg/ and 90/spl deg/ signals for both the receiver and transmitter. By using an inductor-less LNA and the extensive use of mismatch simulations, the smallest silicon area for a Bluetooth radio implementation so far can be reached: 5.5 mm/sup 2/. The transceiver consumes 30 mA in receive mode and 35 mA in transmit mode from a 2.5 to 3.0-V power supply. As the radio operates on the same die as baseband and SW, the crosstalk-on-silicon is an important issue. This crosstalk problem was taken into consideration from the start of the project. Sensitivity was measured at -82 dBm.     

A 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS bioluminescence detection lab-on-chip

The paper describes a bioluminescence detection lab-on-chip consisting of a fiber-optic faceplate with immobilized luminescent reporters/probes that is directly coupled to an optical detection and processing CMOS system-on-chip (SoC) fabricated in a 0.18-/spl mu/m process. The lab-on-chip is customized for such applications as determining gene expression using reporter gene assays, determining intracellular ATP, and sequencing DNA. The CMOS detection SoC integrates an 8 /spl times/ 16 pixel array having the same pitch as the assay site array, a 128-channel 13-bit ADC, and column-level DSP, and is fabricated in a 0.18-/spl mu/m image sensor process. The chip is capable of detecting emission rates below 10/sup -6/ lux over 30 s of integration time at room temperature. In addition to directly coupling and matching the assay site array to the photodetector array, this low light detection is achieved by a number of techniques, including the use of very low dark current photodetectors, low-noise differential circuits, high-resolution analog-to-digital conversion, background subtraction, correlated multiple sampling, and multiple digitizations and averaging to reduce read noise. Electrical and optical characterization results as well as preliminary biological testing results are reported.     

G/sub m/-boosted common-gate LNA and differential colpitts VCO/QVCO in 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS

The demand for radio frequency (RF) integrated circuits with reduced power consumption is growing owing to the trend toward system-on-a-chip (SoC) implementations in deep-sub-micron CMOS technologies. The concomitant need for high performance imposes additional challenges for circuit designers. In this paper, a g/sub m/-boosted common-gate low-noise amplifier (CGLNA), differential Colpitts voltage-controlled oscillators (VCO), and a quadrature Colpitts voltage-controlled oscillator (QVCO) are presented as alternatives to the conventional common-source LNA and cross-coupled VCO/QVCO topologies. Specifically, a g/sub m/-boosted common-gate LNA loosens the link between noise factor (i.e., noise match) and input matching (i.e., power match ); consequently, both noise factor and bias current are simultaneously reduced. A transformer-coupled CGLNA is described. Suggested by the functional and topological similarities between amplifiers and oscillators, differential Colpitts VCO and QVCO circuits are presented that relax the start-up requirements and improve both close-in and far-out phase noise compared to conventional Colpitts configurations. Experimental results from a 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS process validate the g/sub m/-boosting design principle.     

A low-voltage folded-switching mixer in 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS

Scaling of CMOS technologies has a great impact on analog design. The most severe consequence is the reduction of the voltage supply. In this paper, a low voltage, low power, AC-coupled folded-switching mixer with current-reuse is presented. The main advantages of the introduced mixer topology are: high voltage gain, moderate noise figure, moderate linearity, and operation at low supply voltages. Insight into the mixer operation is given by analyzing voltage gain, noise figure (NF), linearity (IIP3), and DC stability. The mixer is designed and implemented in 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS technology with metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors as an option. The active chip area is 160 /spl mu/m/spl times/200 /spl mu/m. At 2.4 GHz a single side band (SSB) noise figure of 13.9 dB, a voltage gain of 11.9 dB and an IIP3 of -3 dBm are measured at a supply voltage of 1 V and with a power consumption of only 3.2 mW. At a supply voltage of 1.8 V, an SSB noise figure of 12.9 dB, a voltage gain of 16 dB and an IIP3 of 1 dBm are measured at a power consumption of 8.1 mW.     

A matrix amplifier in 0.18-/spl mu/m SOI CMOS

A fully integrated matrix amplifier with two rows and four columns (2-by-4) fabricated in a three-layer metal 0.18-/spl mu/m silicon-on-insulator (SOI) CMOS process is presented. It exhibits an average pass-band gain of 15 dB and a unity-gain bandwidth of 12.5 GHz. The input and output ports are matched to 50 /spl Omega/ using m-derived half sections; the measured S/sub 11/ and S/sub 22/ values exceed -7 and -12 dB, respectively. Integrated in 2.0/spl times/2.9mm/sup 2/, it dissipates 233.4 mW total from 2.4- and 1.8-V power supplies.     

24 GHz low-noise amplifier in 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS technology

A 24 GHz monolithic low-noise amplifier (LNA) is implemented in a standard 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS technology. Measurements show a gain of 12.86 dB and a noise figure of 5.6 dB at 23.5 GHz. The input and output return losses are better than 11 dB and 22 dB across the 22-29 GHz span, respectively. The operation frequency of 24 GHz is believed to be the highest reported for LNA in a standard CMOS technology.     

A single-chip dual-band direct-conversion IEEE 802.11a/b/g WLAN transceiver in 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS

This paper presents a single-chip dual-band CMOS direct-conversion transceiver fully compliant with the IEEE 802.11a/b/g standards. Operating in the frequency ranges of 2.412-2.484 GHz and 4.92-5.805 GHz (including the Japanese band), the fractional-N PLL based frequency synthesizer achieves an integrated (10 kHz-10 MHz) phase noise of 0.54/spl deg//1.1/spl deg/ for 2/5-GHz band. The transmitter error vector magnitude (EVM) is -36/-33 dB with an output power level higher than -3/-5dBm and the receiver sensitivity is -75/-74 dBm for 2/5-GHz band for 64QAM at 54 Mb/s.     

W-band multiple-ring resonator by standard 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS technology

A high-Q multiple-ring resonator fabricated by standard 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS process is presented. This design achieves a high quality factor at W-band without the need of any post-processing steps. Simulation results indicate that the four open-loop rings enhance the quality factor by 120% compared with the resonator with a single ring. The measured quality factors are 38 and 83 at /spl sim/75GHz under the loaded and unloaded conditions, respectively.     

A low-power oscillator mixer in 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS technology

A downconversion double-balanced oscillator mixer using 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS technology is proposed in this paper. This oscillator mixer consists of an individual mixer stacked on a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO). The stacked structure allows entire mixer current to be reused by the VCO cross-coupled pair to reduce the total current consumption of the individual VCO and mixer. Using individual supply voltages and eliminating the tail current source, the stacked topology requires 1.0-V low supply voltage. The oscillator mixer achieves a voltage conversion gain of 10.9 dB at 4.2-GHz RF frequency. The oscillator mixer exhibits a tuning range of 11.5% and a single-sideband noise figure of 14.5 dB. The dc power consumption is 0.2 mW for the mixer and 2.94 mW for the VCO. This oscillator mixer requires a lower supply voltage and achieves a higher operating frequency among recently reported Si-based self-oscillating mixers and mixer oscillators. The mixer in this oscillator mixer also achieves a low power consumption compared with recently reported low-power mixers.     

Highly linear 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS power amplifier with deep n-Well structure

The linearity of a 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS power amplifier (PA) is improved by adopting a deep n-well (DNW). To find the reason for the improvement, bias dependent nonlinear parameters of the test devices are extracted from a small-signal model and a Volterra series analysis for an optimized nMOS PA with a proper matching circuit is carried out. From the analysis, it is revealed that the DNW of the nMOS lowers the harmonic distortion generated from the intrinsic gate-source capacitance (C/sub gs/), which is the dominant nonlinear source, and partially from drain junction capacitance (C/sub jd/). Single-ended and differential PAs for 2.45-GHz WLAN are designed and fabricated using a 0.18-/spl mu/m standard CMOS process. The single-ended PA with the DNW improves IMD3 and IMD5 about 5 dB with identical power performances, i.e., 20 dBm of P/sub out/, 18.7 dB of power gain and 31% of power-added efficiency (PAE) at P/sub 1dB/. The IMD3 and IMD5 are below -40 dBc and -47dBc, respectively. The differential PA with the DNW also shows about 7 dB improvements of IMD3 and IMD5 with 20.2 dBm of P/sub out/, 18.9 dB of power gain and 35% of PAE at P/sub 1dB/. The IMD3 and IMD5 are below -45 dB and -57 dBc, respectively. These performances of the linear PAs are state-of-the-art results.     

0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS Bluetooth analog receiver with -88-dBm sensitivity

A CMOS Bluetooth analog low-IF receiver that includes a low-noise amplifier, image-rejection mixer, IF bandpass active filter, and programmable gain amplifier (PGA) was fabricated in a 0.18-/spl mu/m bulk CMOS process. In order to achieve good sensitivity and tolerance against blocking signals, operational amplifiers were used in the active filter and PGA, the filter and PGA were interleaved to minimize noise, and an on-chip automatic tuner adjusts the filter frequency. Other features included a feedforward automatic gain control with rapid convergence. When connected to the digital demodulator of a BiCMOS Bluetooth transceiver, -88-dBm sensitivity was measured at 65-mW power dissipation. All blocking signal specifications were also satisfied.     

0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS push-pull power amplifier with antenna in IC package

A novel architecture of power amplifier with antenna implemented in a ceramic ball grid array (CBGA) package is presented. The monolithic power amplifier designed in a standard 0.18- /spl mu/m CMOS technology offers 19.5 dBm maximum output power at 5.2 GHz to the antenna with the PAE of 32%. The antenna integrated in the CBGA package achieves impedance bandwidth of 3.86% and gain of 2 dBi at 5.2 GHz. Results demonstrate the feasibility of using this innovative configuration to the design of single-chip 5 GHz transmitter front-end.