A Linear High Frequency gm Boosting Wideband LNA in 130 nm SiGe HBT with Minimum NF of 4.3 dB for WiGig Application

Abstract

This paper presents an inductor less wideband low noise amplifier (LNA) with an area of 0.3[Formula: see text]mm2, using 130[Formula: see text]nm SiGe BiCMOS technology targeted for 5G WiGig wireless application. A [Formula: see text] boosting amplifier used at the intermediate node of the cascode topology to reduce the noise contribution of the common base (CB) transistor for the first time in SiGe HBT technology. Mathematical analysis shows that the proposed high frequency [Formula: see text] boosting technique on the CB transistor can be optimally tuned for either low NF or high linearity. Furthermore, the circuit incorporates variable capacitors for multimode capability, ensuring optimal performance in all four WiGig channels. Post layout EM simulation of the circuit shows that the resultant LNA has a maximum gain of 21.08[Formula: see text]dB with the [Formula: see text]3 dB frequency over 56[Formula: see text]GHz to 67.3[Formula: see text]GHz. The proposed LNA exhibits a minimum noise figure of 4.3[Formula: see text]dB and shows high linearity with an input referred [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text]2.7[Formula: see text]dB. The designed when operated using supply voltage of 1.2[Formula: see text]V consumes a total dc power of 8.9[Formula: see text]mW.