Wideband 0.18μm CMOS VCO using active inductor with negative resistance

Abstract

This paper presents a wideband voltage controlled oscillator topology based on an active inductor generating negative resistance. The proposed architecture covers a frequency band between 1.325 GHz - 2.15 GHz with average in-band phase noise of -86 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset from the carrier frequency. Power consumption of the oscillator core is 28 mW from a 1.8 V supply. The circuit has been simulated in Eldo RF (Design Architect IC, Mentor Graphics) using UMC 0.18 mum 1P6M Salicide RF CMOS model libraries.