A high-performance 1-7 GHz UWB LNA using standard 0.18 μm CMOS technology

In this article, we demonstrate a high-peformance 1- to 7-GHz ultra-wideband (UWB) low-noise amplifier (LNA) for UWB system applications implemented in a standard 0.18 mu m CMOS technology. This LNA can also be applied to 1.8/1.9-GHz-band GSM systems, and 2.4/4.9/ 5.2/5.7-GHz-band WLAN systems. The LNA consists of two cascaded stages, in which the pole of the first stage is cancelled by the zero of the second stage over the 1-7 GHz, of interest. In addition, the inductive peaking technique is adopted in the second stage for bandwidth enhancement. This LNA achieved input return loss (S-11) of -10 to -15.3 dB, output return loss (S-22) of -19.4 to -10.3 dB, voltage gain (A(v)) of 13.3 to 14.6 dB, reverse isolation (S-12) of -37.7 to -27.1 dB over the 1- to 7-GHz band of interest. The measured noise figure (NF) was 4.86-4.35 dB over the 2-8.5 GHz band. The measured 1-dB compression point (P-1dB) and third-order inter-modulation point (IIP3) were -13.5 dBm and -3 dBm, respectively, at 6 GHz. The chip area was only 500 mu m x 582 mu m excluding the test pads. This LNA drained 10.4 mA current at supply voltage of 1.5 V, i.e. it only consumed 15.6 mWpower. (C) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.