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This paper presents a low-noise amplifier (LNA) with single to differential conversion (Balun) for multi-standard radio applications. The proposed LNA combines a common-gate (CG) stage for wideband input matching and a common-source (CS) stage to cancel the noise and distortion of the CG stage. Using the proposed technique, a low noise figure (NF) is achieved while providing a wideband of operation. Furthermore, a feedback connection from the CS stage to the gate of the CG is employed to boost the transconductance of the CG stage (gmCG), and an additional complementary transistor is applied at the CS stage using current reuse to increase the overall transconductance of the CS stage (gmCS) without increasing the power consumed by the stage. This LNA was designed using TSMC 65 nm technology, and post-layout simulation results show operation across 0.5–5 GHz, a maximum power gain of 20 dB, 4 dB minimum NF, and third-order intercept point (IIP3) of −10 dBm while consuming only 5 mW of power from a 1.2 V supply.

This paper presents a K-band CMOS cross-coupled pair voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) that utilizes the varactor-only capacitor network. The proposed circuit features low parasitics and a compact capacitor network, such that the varactor in the analog tuning path directly affects the oscillation frequency with a large gain of the VCO, and the varactor in the digital tuning path results in minimal noise sources, thus achieving low phase noise for the automotive FMCW radar application. This VCO was designed using TSMC 65 nm technology, and the post-layout simulation results show a stable oscillation across 18–19.2 GHz, a minimum phase noise of −105.9 and −128 dBc/Hz at 1- and 10-MHz offset frequencies while dissipating 21 mW of power from a 1 V supply. Furthermore, no notable variations in phase noise are observed across the oscillation frequency tuning range. It reveals a figure of merit (FOM) of −178.3 dBc/Hz while using a varactor-only capacitor array and occupying a small chip area.

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