A 2.3-mW 26.3-GHz $G_{m}$ -Boosted Differential Colpitts VCO With 20% Tuning Range in 65-nm CMOS

Abstract

This paper presents an architecture for differential Colpitts voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) in complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) that utilizes three design techniques to extend the tuning range (TR) of the VCO, while maintaining a low phase noise (PN) and a low power consumption. First, a switched-capacitor bank based on a variable capacitive feedback technique is introduced to achieve a wide TR with a minimal PN degradation. Second, a $G_{m}$ -boosting technique using interstage inductors is employed to lower the power consumption and relax VCO startup issues. Third, a dynamic forward-body self-biased technique is used to further reduce the power consumption and PN of the proposed structure. As a proof of concept, a 26.3-GHz differential Colpitts VCO is designed and fabricated in a 65-nm CMOS process. Based on the measurement results, the VCO achieves a PN of −122.1 dBc/Hz at 10-MHz offset from the center frequency, and a TR of 20%. The circuit consumes 2.3 mW from a 1-V supply and excluding the pads occupies a 0.22 mm2 of silicon area. Compared to the recently published CMOS VCOs within the same frequency range, the proposed VCO simultaneously achieves a wide TR, low power dissipation, and low PN, resulting in a figure of merit (FOM) and FOM incorporating the TR (FOM $_{T}$ ) of −187 and −193 dBc/Hz at 10-MHz offset from the center frequency, respectively.