An integrated inductorless quadrature voltage controlled oscillator design in a 47GHz SiGe process

Abstract

An RF inductorless quadrature voltage controlled oscillator (QVCO) with more than 6GHz of tuning range is described. Significant area savings are possible with this architecture compared to traditional LC-tank QVCOs, and the circuit can he operated at frequencies near the fr of the transistors utilized. The proposed high frequency QVCO design can be fabricated in a lower cost technology since it does not require monolithic inductors or high-Q varactors. A new method of tuning the QVCO stabilizes the output power over the tuning range. At 13 GHz phase noises of -79.81 dBc/Hz and -84.27 dBc/Hz at offsets of 600 kHz and 1 MHz were simulated. The integrated circuit was designed to operate from a 3.3V supply, and will be fabricated in a 47 GHz silicon germanium bipolar process.