A 3.9-dB NF, 24.5-dB gain 0.3∼10.5-GHZ distributed amplifier using dual-inductive-peaking cascade gain cell for UWB systems in 0.18-μm CMOS

Abstract

A high-gain and low-noise CMOS distributed amplifier (DA) is proposed.Flat and high S21 and flat and low NF was achieved simultaneously by using the proposed dual-inductive-peaking (LD and LP) cascade gain cell, which constituted a cascode-stage with a low-Q RLC load and two inductive-peaking common-source stages. At high-gain mode, the two-stage DA consumed 55.6 mW and achieved S21 of 24.5 ± 1.5 dB and an average NF of 3.9 dB over the frequency range of 0.3∼10.5 GHz, one of the best reported S21 and NF performances for a CMOS UWB DA in the literature. In addition, at low-gain mode, the two-stage DA consumed 16.3 mW and achieved flat and high S21 of 13.1 ± 1.5 dB with an average NF of 5.3 dB over the frequency range of 0.2∼10.8 GHz. The results indicate the proposed DA is suitable for variable gain amplifier or low-noise amplifier in 3–10-GHz UWB communication systems. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:2228–2232, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26260