An inductorless 900 MHz RF low-noise amplifier in 0.9 /spl mu/m CMOS

Abstract

A low cost 900-MHz RF Low-Noise Amplifier is implemented in a standard 0.9 /spl mu/m digital CMOS process. The design circumvents the use of both expensive external inductors as well as large on-chip inductors, by employing a gyrator circuit to emulate the inductors. This results in a high gain at RF of 20 dB, a tunable resonance frequency and a chip area of only 0.1 mm/sup 2/. At a 940 MHz center frequency, this fully balanced LNA exhibits -23 dB of S11, a 5.3 dB noise figure and an IIP3 of -8.6 dBm. It drains 12.5 mA from a 3.3 V supply.