A wideband CMOS LNA design approach

A methodology for designing wideband CMOS LNAs is proposed. This is an extension to the existing narrowband power-constrained simultaneous noise-input matching (PCSNIM) LNA design technique. To demonstrate the application of the proposed method, two wideband single-ended cascode LNAs are designed in a 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS technology to operate in the frequency bands of 1.5-2.5 GHz and 3.2-4.8 GHz, respectively. Based on simulation results, these LNAs achieve: maximum forward gain of 15.4 dB (17.9 dB) with 3 dB bandwidth of 1.6 GHz (2.7 GHz); maximum in-band noise figure of 0.9 dB (1.6 dB); worst case 1dB compression point of -13 dBm (-15 dBm); IIP3 of better than -2.5 dBm (-4.5 dBm) over the entire bandwidth. The LNAs draw 7.5 mA (8.8 mA) from a 1.5 V supply.

[1]  T.H. Lee,et al.  A 1.5 V, 1.5 GHz CMOS low noise amplifier , 1996, 1996 Symposium on VLSI Circuits. Digest of Technical Papers.

[2]  A. van der Ziel,et al.  Representation of noise in linear two-ports , 1969 .

[3]  B. Nauta,et al.  Wide-band CMOS low-noise amplifier exploiting thermal noise canceling , 2004, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[4]  Thomas H. Lee,et al.  The Design of CMOS Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuits: RF CIRCUITS THROUGH THE AGES , 2003 .

[5]  H. A. Haus,et al.  Representation of Noise in Linear Twoports , 1960, Proceedings of the IRE.

[6]  J. L. Showell,et al.  A scalable high-frequency noise model for bipolar transistors with application to optimal transistor sizing for low-noise amplifier design , 1997 .

[7]  A. Ismail,et al.  A 3 to 10 GHz LNA using a wideband LC-ladder matching network , 2004, 2004 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (IEEE Cat. No.04CH37519).

[8]  Pietro Andreani,et al.  Noise optimization of an inductively degenerated CMOS low noise amplifier , 2001 .

[9]  Sang-Gug Lee,et al.  CMOS low-noise amplifier design optimization techniques , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[10]  Reinhold Ludwig,et al.  RF Circuit Design , 2000 .

[11]  A. Ziel.  Noise in solid state devices and circuits , 1986 .

[12]  S. Andersson,et al.  Wideband LNA for a multistandard wireless receiver in 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS , 2003, ESSCIRC 2004 - 29th European Solid-State Circuits Conference (IEEE Cat. No.03EX705).