CMOS noise canceling balun LNA with tunable bandpass from 4.6 GHz to 5.8 GHz

Abstract

A compact resistive-feedback low-noise amplifier (LNA) with single-ended input and differential output for multi-standard wireless receivers up to 6 GHz is presented. To relax external RF filters and LNA linearity requirements, an on-chip LC bandpass load is included with a continuously tunable center frequency from 4.6 GHz to 5.8 GHz. The LNA is implemented in 65 nm CMOS technology and achieves a measured gain up to 30 dB and an IIP3 linearity between −6.5 dbm and −10.3 dBm. Due to noise cancelation techniques the noise figure (NF) reaches a low value of 1.6 dB in the band of interest. The power consumption is below 16 mW at 1.2 V single supply. The active chip area is 154 μm ∗ 197 μm. Therefore the proposed LNA structure is a cost-effective alternative to source-degeneration based narrowband LNA's with comparable performance. Since wide-band input impedance matching is employed, the LNA can be used in reconfigurable multi-standard wireless applications.