Programmable low noise amplifier with active-inductor load

A common gate CMOS low noise amplifier (LNA) with an active-inductor load is presented. For large inductance values, an on-chip passive inductor requires considerable silicon area and it is quality-factor (Q) limited; a situation that can be rendered as impractical. Hence, the purpose of this work is to seek the possibility of using active inductors in RF circuits as substitutes for passive ones. Moreover, an active inductor opens avenues for programmability, e.g. it is possible to attain an amplifier with a programmable center frequency. It is shown in this paper that by proper design optimization the active-inductor´s noise contribution can be minimized. HSPICE simulations using 0.5 μm HP technology show that our amplifier has a tuning range of half decade for a center frequency at 1 GHz. The simulated gain, noise figure, and power consumption are 20 dB, 3.65 dB, and 14 mW, respectively