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

Author

Hsieh, Hsieh-Hung ; Lu, Liang-Hung

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., Nat. Taiwan Univ., Taipei

Volume

55

Issue

3

fYear

2007

fDate

3/1/2007 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

467

Lastpage

473

Abstract

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

Keywords

CMOS integrated circuits; circuit feedback; low-power electronics; microwave oscillators; phase noise; voltage-controlled oscillators; 0.18 micron; 0.6 V; 3 mW; 5.6 GHz; CMOS voltage-controlled oscillator; capacitive feedback; forward-body-bias technique; phase noise; tuning range; ultra-low-voltage operations; CMOS process; Circuit optimization; Circuit topology; Energy consumption; Frequency; Output feedback; Phase noise; Power supplies; Voltage; Voltage-controlled oscillators; Capacitive feedback; forward body bias (FBB); ultra-low power; ultra-low voltage; voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs);

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microwave Theory and Techniques, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9480

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TMTT.2006.891471

Filename

4118404