A 1.8-GHz low-phase-noise spiral-LC CMOS VCO

A completely integrated 1.8-GHz low-phase-noise voltage-controlled oscillator is presented. The design relies heavily on the integrated spiral inductors, which are constructed with only two metal layers and without etching. The effects of eddy currents and losses in the heavily doped substrate have been simulated and modeled with finite-element analyses. The achieved phase noise is as low as -116 dBc/Hz at 600 kHz offset, at a power consumption of only 6 mW. The VCO's tuning range is 250 MHz.

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