Abstract
The paper proposes a radio frequency front-end ultra-wideband variable gain amplifier (VGA) which is based on improved current-steering topology. The design is implemented in Tower Jazz 0.18 μm SiGe BiCMOS technology. Adding the gain compensation circuit broadens gain dynamic range, and introducing the emitter degeneration capacitor broadens the bandwidth of a typical current-steering topology. Moreover, the digital control function is obtained from the digital-to-analog converter circuit. Also, the input and output matching circuits are designed for testing. The measurement results show that the designed VGA achieves a gain dynamic range of 31 dB stepped by 1 dB from 8 to 18 GHz. Furthermore, input and output return losses are both lower than − 10 dB, and output 1 dB compression point is − 19.6 dBm ~ − 17 dBm at the highest gain stage. The VGA’s DC power consumption is about 14 mA from a 3.3 V supply, and it occupies a chip area of just 0.56 mm2.
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