Wideband VCO With Simultaneous Switching of Frequency Band, Active Core, and Varactor Size

As the tuning range of integrated LC-VCOs increases, it becomes difficult to co-design the active negative resistance core and the varactor size optimally for the complete frequency range. The presented VCO design solves this by adjusting the size of the negative resistance transistors with a switched active core, with the additional benefit that this reduces parasitics and hence allows to achieve better phase noise and an even higher tuning range. Also the VCO gain variations are counteracted by employing an analog varactor that can change in size. The implementation in 0.13-mum CMOS shows a tuning range from 3.1 to 5.2 GHz, with a power consumption varying accordingly from 7.7 to 2.1 mA from a 1.2 V supply. The measured phase noise is -118 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz from a 4-GHz carrier.