Low power low phase noise LC quadrature VCO topology

Abstract

A simple low power low phase noise LC QVCO (Quadrature Voltage Controlled Oscillator) topology is proposed. The topology minimizes phase noise by eliminating the contributions from the tail current source and coupling transistors. With no more than 3.36mW power consumption from a 1.2 V power supply, the VCO achieves -124 dBc/Hz phase noise performance at 1 MHz offset from the 2.85 GHz carrier frequency.