Novel Quadrature Voltage-Controlled Oscillator Using Capacitor Coupling

ABSTRACT

In this paper, a novel quadrature voltage-controlled oscillator (QVCO) coupled by four capacitors is presented. Comparing with the conventional transformer and MOS transistor coupling, the proposed QVCO achieves better phase noise and lower power dissipation. The proposed QVCO is verified with GlobalFoundries’ 0.18 μm CMOS 1P6M RF process using Cadence IC Design Tools. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed QVCO operates from 2.05 to 5.25 GHz by adjusting the bias voltage, and its phase noise is −143.6 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset. Moreover, the power consumption of the QVCO is only 2.8 mW with 1.3 V supply voltage.

KEYWORDS:

• CMOS
• Negative resistance
• Phase noise
• Quadrature voltage-controlled oscillator
• Radio frequency (RF)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author would like to thank Mr Guangwu Wang, the engineer of Shaoguang Semiconductor Co., Ltd in Changsha for providing valuable suggestions and discussions on the proposed oscillator.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 61561022]; the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province [grant number 2017JJ3254]; and the Education Department of Hunan Province outstanding youth project [grant number 16B212].

Notes on contributors

Jie Jin

Jie Jin received his B.Sc. degree from Shenzhen University of Information Engineering, the M.Sc. and the Ph.D. degrees from College of Information Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Hunan, China. His research interests include current-mode, RF and chaotic circuits design.

E-mail: [email protected]