A dual-band 1.7V CMOS variable gain low noise amplifier

The design and simulation of a dual-band monolithic low noise amplifier, with active balun and gain control integrated on the same die, is presented on this paper. The circuit includes an internal DAC, allowing sixteen gain levels with digital control. The fully integrated circuit was implemented in a 0.35μm AMS CMOS standard technology and simulated with BSIM3 model. Simulations show a 16dB (1dB/step) dynamic gain variation in a 1.4–1.7GHz band (includes dual sub-bands), a phase and transducer gain magnitude errors less than 1.6° and 0.2dB, respectively, a 1.24dB noise figure and −23dBm input-referred 1dB compression point both at maximum gain, 50Ω input and output match, while drawing less than 7.5mA from a 1.7V power supply, including analog and digital system.