Design of Millimeter-Wave VCOs and Mixer
Date Issued
2006
Date
2006
Author(s)
Huang, Ping-Chen
DOI
en-US
Abstract
This thesis presents two major building blocks in wireless transceivers: the VCO and the mixer. They are both highlighted with its high-frequency performance in CMOS or SiGe technology.
Due to the inherently lower unit current-gain frequency (fT) and maximum oscillation frequency (fmax) of CMOS devices as compared to III-V compound devices or SiGe HBT, it is crucial to investigate the high frequency behaviors of negative resistance cells when designing MMW CMOS VCOs. Several VCO topologies are analyzed and compared in this thesis. And it is concluded that the LC source degenerated negative-resistance cell can be a better candidate for MMW CMOS VCOs because of its better frequency behavior and the multiple dimension of design parameters that shape the frequency response of the negative resistance.
The design and implementation of a 131-GHz push-push cross-coupled VCO in 90-nm CMOS technology will be described. It can be tuned from 129.8 to 132 GHz, with an estimated phase noise of -108.4 dBc/Hz at 10 MHz offset. The oscillator provides a push-push output power of -15.2 dBm and a fundamental output power of +0.33 dBm, under core current of 20 mA from a 1-V supply voltage. Maximum push-push and fundamental output powers are -11.4 dBm and +2.1 dBm, respectively. This VCO is the one with highest output frequency among CMOS VCOs.
Then the LC source degenerated VCO will be demonstrated through a 114-GHz VCO in 0.13-μm CMOS technology. With core power consumption of 8.4 mW, the tuning range at the fundamental port is from 56.4 GHz to 57.6 GHz, and at the push-push port is from 112.8 GHz to 115.2 GHz. The measured phase noise at the fundamental port is -113.6 dBc/Hz at 10-MHz offset. This VCO is the first CMOS VCO beyond 100 GHz and is believed to have the best figure of merit (FOM) among millimeter-wave (MMW) VCOs using bulk CMOS processes.
An 85-GHz push-push VCO in 0.15-μm GaAs pHEMT technology shows that the LC source degeneration can also be applied to a cross-coupled pair to increase the operation frequency. Under total bias current of 52 mA from a 3-V supply, the output power of this VCO is -12 dBm at 85.7 GHz, and the phase noise at 1-MHz offset is -92.33 dBc/Hz.
Finally, the design of a broadband Gilbert-cell up-conversion mixer in 0.18-μm SiGe BiCMOS technology is presented. The compact MMIC has a flat measured conversion loss of 7 ± 1.5 dB and LO suppression of more than 40 dB at the RF port from 35 to 65 GHz. The power consumption is 14 mW from a 4-V supply. With chip size of 0.6 mm × 0.45 mm, this mixer has the smallest chip area ever reported, and also the highest operation frequency among up-conversion mixers using silicon-based technology.
Subjects
振盪器
混波器
毫米波
VCO
mixer
millimeter-wave
Type
thesis