Radio Frequency CMOS Integrated Circuits for Low Power Transceiver Applications

In this paper we present design results related to integrated circuits for low power and high frequency transceiver implementations. We first consider the traditional LC voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) and its operation. We then examine an implementation of a VCO that solves many practical problems with the traditional LC VCO implementation with the use of an automatic amplitude control (AAC) circuit. Finally, a method to extend the operating frequency of an oscillator using a wideband frequency doubler (FD) is discussed. The implemented VCO with AAC has an operating frequency of 7.2GHz, a tuning range of 410MHz, a phase noise of −108dBc/Hz@1MHz and it dissipates 4.32mW from a 1.8V supply. The implemented frequency doubler consumed $985\mu {\bf W}$ from a 1V supply and had a 3dB bandwidth of 4GHz.