Concepts and methods in optimization of integrated LC VCOs

Underlying physical mechanisms controlling the noise properties of oscillators are studied. This treatment shows the importance of inductance selection for oscillator noise optimization. A design strategy centered around an inductance selection scheme is executed using a practical graphical optimiza...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE journal of solid-state circuits 2001-06, Vol.36 (6), p.896-909
Main Authors: Ham, D., Hajimiri, A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Constraint optimization
Design optimization
Inductance
Inductors
Mechanical factors
Noise
Optimization
Optimization methods
Optimization techniques
Oscillators
Phase noise
Power dissipation
Spirals
Studies
Tanks
Tuning
Voltage-controlled oscillators
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Summary:Underlying physical mechanisms controlling the noise properties of oscillators are studied. This treatment shows the importance of inductance selection for oscillator noise optimization. A design strategy centered around an inductance selection scheme is executed using a practical graphical optimization method to optimize phase noise subject to design constraints such as power dissipation, tank amplitude, tuning range, startup condition, and diameters of spiral inductors. The optimization technique is demonstrated through a design example, leading to a 2.4-GHz fully integrated, LC voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) implemented using 0.35-/spl mu/m MOS transistors. The measured phase-noise values are -121, -117, and -115 dBc/Hz at 600-kHz offset from 1.91, 2.03, and 2.60-GHz carriers, respectively. The VCO dissipates 4 mA from a 2.5-V supply voltage. The inversion mode MOSCAP tuning is used to achieve 26% of tuning range. Two figures of merit for performance comparison of various oscillators are introduced and used to compare this work to previously reported results.
ISSN:0018-9200
1558-173X
DOI:10.1109/4.924852