Low phase noise LC VCO design in CMOS technology

摘要

This paper presents the design and the experimental measurements of two CMOS LC-tuned voltage controlled oscillators (VCO) implemented in a 0.18 mu m 6-metal-layer mixed-signal/RF CMOS technology. The design methodologies and approaches for the optimization of the ICs are presented. The first design is optimized for mixed-signal transistor, oscillated at 2.64 GHz with a phase noise of -93.5 dBc/Hz at 500 kHz offset. The second one optimized for RF transistor, using the same architecture, oscillated at 2.61 GHz with a phase noise of -95.8 dBc/Hz at 500 kHz offset. Under a 2 V supply, the power dissipation is 8 mW, and the maximum buffered output power for mixed-signal and RF transistor are -7 dBm and -5.4 dBm, respectively. Both oscillators make use of on-chip components only, allowing for simple and robust integration.