This paper presents a low phase noise 28 GHz
voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) using a transformer-based
active impedance converter to enhance the quality factor (Q) of
the capacitor in the resonator. The active impedance converter
can enhance the Q of a capacitor bank and varactor by 25-40%
across the VCO’s tuning range. The proposed VCO is fabricated
using the proposed transformer-based Q-enhancement
impedance converter in a standard 65 nm CMOS process. The
VCO achieves a 15.9% measured fractional frequency tuning
range and phase noise of −107.6 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset from 28
GHz oscillation frequency while occupying only 0.05 mm2 area
(200 μm × 250 μm). The VCO consumes 5.1 mW power, resulting
in an excellent figure-of-merit (FoM) of 189.4 dBc/Hz and a
figure-of-merit-with-area (FoMA) of 202.8 dBc/Hz.
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This content will become publicly available on January 1, 2025
A Single-Switch 3.1-4.7 GHz 194.52-dB FoM Class-D VCO With 495μW Power Consumption
This brief presents an ultra-low-power class-D voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) designed for GHz applications that mandate decent phase noise performance. A waveform-centric approach of phase noise reduction by controlling the ratio between the floating and single-ended (SE) capacitors in an oscillator tank is proposed. By co-designing an RF choke with the tank inductor to introduce high impedance for the floating capacitors, the optimum capacitance ratio is maintained across the tuning range. The VCO is fabricated in 65nm Bulk CMOS technology and achieves a measured phase noise of -118.36 dBc/Hz and -138.64 dBc/Hz, and figure-of-merit of 192.89 dBc/Hz and 194.52 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz and 10 MHz offset frequencies, respectively. The VCO’s lowest measured 1/f3 corner is approximately 50kHz, which enables a decent figure-of-merit (FoM) down to a frequency offset of 10 kHz. The VCO features a tuning range of 40% (3.1 GHz -4.66 GHz) using a one-bit switch to realize two-point modulation in phase-locked loops (PLLs) with milliwatt-level power consumption.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2242701
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10535067
- Editor(s):
- Bonizzoni, Edoardo
- Publisher / Repository:
- IEEE
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II: Express Briefs
- Edition / Version:
- NA
- Volume:
- NA
- Issue:
- NA
- ISSN:
- 1549-7747
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1 to 1
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- Voltage-controlled oscillators, Phase noise, Tuning, Inductors, Circuits, Switching circuits, Radio frequency
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: 2011 kB Other: PDF
- Size(s):
- 2011 kB
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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