Frequency of oscillation of a cross-coupled CMOS VCO with resistor tail biasing

Abstract

This paper presents a formula for predicting the frequency of oscillation of a cross-coupled voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO). The VCO was implemented in a CMOS 0.13 mum technology. The calculated frequency of operation shows a close agreement with the simulated results. The VCO operates at 10 GHz and consumes 490 muW from a IV supply. The simulated phase noise at a 1 MHz offset is -114.4 dBc/Hz resulting in a figure of merit (FOM) of -197.6 dB. The VCO can cover a 748 MHz frequency range and occupies 0.096 mm2 of chip area. The simulated sensitivity of the frequency of operation and peak-to-peak amplitude due to temperature is 4.58 MHz/degC and 3.6 mV/degC, respectively. The sensitivity of the frequency of operation and peak-to-peak amplitude due to power supply is 1.1 GHz/V and 1.82 V/V, respectively.