A 44GHz Dual-Modulus Divide-by-4/5 Prescaler in 90nm CMOS Technology

A CMOS 44GHz divide-by-4/5 dual-modulus prescaler is presented. The scaled inductive peaking technique and the merged NOR-FF circuits are used to achieve the high-speed, low power and low voltage operation. Fabricated in a 90nm bulk CMOS process, the prescaler with the on-chip VCO operates from 38.7GHz to 44GHz while consuming 45mW from a 1.2V supply. To the authors' knowledge, this prescaler achieves the highest operation frequency up to 44GHz in the published CMOS prescalers.