Ultralow Power, 3.15 mW, 76.7 GHz Digitally Controlled Oscillator in 65 nm CMOS for High Data-Rate Application

Abstract

This paper presents an ultralow power 1-bit digitally controlled oscillator (DCO) for the application in high data-rate FSK transmitters. To design a low-power DCO, minimising the loss of the LC tank is very critical. Hence, a high quality factor (Q) multifinger capacitor and a high-Q centre-tapped inductor are proposed and designed. Simulated Q of the capacitor is more than 45 from 70 GHz to 80 GHz. It is at least 4.5 times higher than a typical metal-insulator-metal capacitor (MIMCAP). The proposed DCO based on the designed high-Q passives is fabricated in standard 65 nm CMOS. Measured foSC are 74. 1GHz and 76.7 GHz in the on-and off-state of the switch, respectively. It consumes only 3.15 mW DC power from a supply of 0. 75V which to the authors’ knowledge is the lowest power consumption reported so far in this frequency range.