A 197 FoMT VCO with 34% Tuning Range for 5G Applications in 45nm SOI Technology

Abstract

This paper presents the design of a wide tuning range (7.3 - 10.3 GHz) VCO, in 45nm SOI technology, for 5G communication systems. The VCO exhibits a measured phase noise of -119.2 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset from the carrier frequency and achieves a very high FOMT of 197. The proposed VCO consumes 15mW while operating from a 0.9V power supply. This paper presents new design methodology for transistor sizing as well as biasing to reduce VCO phase noise.