A 40-GHz Wide-Tuning-Range VCO in 0.18-~m CMOS

A 40-GHz wideband VCO is demonstrated in a standard 0.18-mum CMOS technology. In order to achieve wide tuning range at millimeter-wave frequencies, a non-uniform standing-wave VCO with a switched-transmission line architecture is proposed. By switching the length of the transmission line, a frequency tuning range of 7.5 GHz is achieved for the 40-GHz VCO design while maintaining a phase noise better than -96 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset