Abstract
In this paper, a novel complementary differential QVCO using back-gate coupling and switched self-biasing techniques is presented. Since the back-gates of the PMOS switching transistors are used as coupling terminals to achieve the quadrature outputs, the proposed circuit has the advantages of no additional noise source and power dissipation in the coupling process. By switched self-biasing the tail transistors in a complementary manner, the QVCO’s own oscillation output waveforms are injected back into the gates of the tail transistors as biasing voltages to improve the phase noise. Together with the forward back-gate biasing technique which is used to the NMOS switching transistors, the proposed QVCO can be operated at reduced supply voltage and power dissipation while maintaining remarkable circuit performances in terms of low phase noise and wide tuning range. The simulation results show that the phase noise is \(-\)123.2 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset frequency from the carrier frequency of 2.35 GHz, while it consumes only 3.3 mW under a 1.2 V supply voltage. The free-running frequency of the QVCO is tunable from 2.13 to 2.87 GHz as the tuning voltage is varied from 0.0 to 1.2 V. The corresponding figure of merit of the QVCO is \(-\)185.5 dBc/Hz.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
T. Athanasios, P. Fotis, Ultra-wideband, low-power, inductorless, 3.1–4.8 GHz, CMOS VCO. Circuits Syst. Signal Process. 30(2), 263–285 (2011)
J.F. Chang, Y.S. Lin, 0.99 mW 3–10 GHz common-gate CMOS UWB LNA using T-match input network and self-body-bias technique. Electron. Lett. 47(11), 658–659 (2011)
H.Y. Chang, Y.T. Chiu, K-band CMOS differential and quadrature voltage-controlled oscillators for ow phase-noise and low-power applications. IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech. 60(1), 46–59 (2012)
G. Hojat, M.N. Hossein, A CMOS quadrature LC oscillator using automatic phase/amplitude calibration. Circuits Syst. Signal Process. 31(1), 77–91 (2012)
M.T. Hsu, W.H. Li, Y.T. Hsu, Design of self-bias tail transistor technique for low phase noise CMOS VCO with harmonic suppression using capacitance ground. Microelectron. J. 45(1), 35–42 (2014)
T.H. Huang, Y.R. Tseng, A 1 V 2.2 mW 7 GHz CMOS quadrature VCO using current-reuse and cross-coupled transformer-feedback technology. IEEE Microw. Wirel. Compd. Lett. 18(10), 698–700 (2008)
G. Huang, B.S. Kim, Low phase noise self-switched biasing CMOS LC quadrature VCO. IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech. 57(2), 344–351 (2009)
S. Jain, S.L. Jang, Indirect back-gate coupling quadrature LC-VCO. IEEE Microw. Wirel. Compd. Lett. 24(2), 117–119 (2014)
S.L. Jang, C.C. Shih, C.C. Liu, C.W. Chang, C.W. Hsue, CMOS quadrature VCOs using the varactor coupling technique. IEEE Microw. Wirel. Compon. Lett. 21(9), 498–500 (2011)
S.Y. Lee, C.Y. Chen, Analysis and design of a wide-tuning-range VCO with quadrature outputs. IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. II Express Briefs 55(12), 1209–1213 (2008)
W. Li, K.K.M. Cheng, A CMOS transformer-based current reused SSBM and QVCO for UWB application. IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech. 61(6), 2395–2401 (2013)
C.H. Lin, H.Y. Chang, A low-phase-noise CMOS quadrature voltage-controlled oscillator using a self-injection-coupled technique. IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. II Express Briefs 59(10), 623–627 (2012)
A. Liscidini, A. Mazzanti, R. Tonietto, L. Vandi, P. Andreani, R. Castello, Single-stage low-power quadrature RF receiver front-end: the LMV cell. IEEE J. Solid State Circuits 41(12), 2832–2841 (2006)
P. Liu, S.P. Sah, X. Yu, J. Jung, P. Upadhyaya, T.N. Nguyen, D. Heo, Design techniques for load-independent direct bulk-coupled low power QVCO. IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech. 61(10), 3658–3665 (2013)
P.I. Mak, U. Seng-Pan, R.P. Martins, Transceiver architecture selection: review, state-of-the-art survey and case study. IEEE Circuits Syst. Manag. 7(2), 6–25 (2007)
A. Mirzaei, M.E. Heidari, R. Bagheri, S. Chehrazi, A.A. Abidi, The quadrature LC oscillator: a complete portrait based on injection locking. IEEE J. Solid State Circuits 42(9), 1916–1932 (2007)
K.G. Park, C.Y. Jeong, J.W. Park, J.W. Lee, J.G. Jo, C. Yoo, Current reusing VCO and divide-by-two frequency divider for quadrature LO generation. IEEE Microw. Wirel. Compd. Lett. 18(6), 413–415 (2008)
C. Sánchez-Azqueta, S. Celma, F. Aznar, A \(0.18\,\mu \)m CMOS ring VCO for clock and data recovery applications. Microelectron. Reliab. 51(12), 2351–2356 (2011)
J.W. Wu, H.H. Wu, K.C. Hsu, C.C. Chen, A back-gate coupling quadrature voltage-control oscillator embedded with self body-bias schema. IEEE Microw. Wirel. Compd. Lett. 23(3), 146–148 (2013)
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Project Supported by the Scientific Research Fund of Hunan Provincial Education Department under No. 14B107 and the Project Supported for excellent talents in Hunan Normal University under No. ET14102.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wan, Q., Liu, Y. & Wang, Q. A CMOS Back-Gate Coupling LC Quadrature VCO with Switched Self-Biasing Tail Transistor Technique. Circuits Syst Signal Process 34, 3147–3160 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00034-015-0014-8
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00034-015-0014-8