A Sub-1 V 1.6 GHz CMOS VCO with 29% Tuning Range

This paper presents the design and measurement results of a sub-1 V, wide-tuning range, monolithic voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO). The LC-based VCO can operate at a supply voltage as low as 0.8 V. The top-biased PMOS, with capacitor connected in parallel, is used in order to decrease the noise contribution in the oscillated frequency even at a low voltage supply. Moreover, an accumulation MOS varactor (Andreani, 2000) is used to give a wide tuning range of 29%. With a 1 V supply, the 1.6 GHz A-MOS VCO consumes 5.5 mW with a measured phase noise of -119.59 dBc/Hz @ 600 kHz offset