Sub-mW V-band current-reuse VCO using transconductance boosting technique

In this paper a V -band ultra-low-power current-reuse VCO is designed. The current-reuse topology can realize low-power consumption VCOs but the highest oscillation frequency is limited due to the use of PMOS transistor. The current-reuse negative transconductance (-g_m) generator with boosting technique proposed in the paper is able to generate sufficient -g_m. Hence, it reaches the oscillation condition and low power simultaneously. Due to the asymmetrical current-reuse topology, an amplitude compensation transistor is employed. A patterned-grounded- shield inductor is also adopted to improve the quality factor. The VCO is implemented in 65nm standard CMOS. The oscillation frequency is from 60.7GHz to 62.84 GHz and the phase noise at 61.8 GHz is -116.3 dBc/Hz at 10MHz offset. The DC power consumption is 0.98mW under a supply voltage of 1.2 V. A FOM of -188.9 is obtained.