Requirement driven low-power LC and ring oscillator design

Receiver power consumption should be kept as low as possible in applications such as sensor networks. Zero-IF detection is preferred over the interferer-sensitive and modulation-restricted envelope-detection receiver. How- ever, a disadvantage of the zero-IF topology is that it requires a power consuming oscillator. Therefore, minimal-power oscillator design is desired. This paper shows that the ring type of oscillator becomes more power efficient than the LC type when the maximal tolerated phase noise increases. Which is due to required impedance levels and thus related to technological limitations. This conclusion is contradictory to what is usually assumed, based on fundamental reasoning.