Low Noise Wideband CMOS Voltage Controlled Oscillator Using Mems Switch Technology

Modern wireless communications has a requirement for RF front-ends with high selectivity for band efficient receivers. One important element of the RF front-end is the voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) which has been a topic for research for some time now. CMOS technology has the advantage of low cost with the potential to integrate both analog and digital circuits. While band selection has been traditionally done with MOSFET switches, MEMS switches have been shown to demonstrate superior performance. This paper presents the design of a differential Colpitts VCO using MEMS switched inductor array to achieve wide-band, low phase noise performance.

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