A subthreshold low-power NMOS LC-VCO Design for Autonomous Connected Objects

In this paper, a radiofrequency low power LC voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) is presented. It is based on NMOS cross-coupled topology operating in the subthreshold region. An adaptive body biasing technique has been used to ensure high immunity to process, voltage and temperature (PVT) variations. The LC-VCO has been realized in 0.13 μm CMOS technology. It consumes only 468 μW from 0.39 V supply voltage making it suitable for autonomous connected objects and IoT applications. The measured frequency varies between 5.14 and 5.44 GHz. The post-layout simulation presents a phase noise of -112 dBc/Hz, while the measured phase noise is -104.41 dBc/Hz.