This paper proposes a dual-conduction class-C VCO for ultra-low supply voltages. Two cross-coupled NMOS pairs with different bias points are employed. These NMOS pairs realize an impulse-like current waveform to improve the phase noise in the low supply conditions. The proposed VCO was implemented in a standard 0.18 µm CMOS technology, which oscillates at a carrier frequency of 4.5 GHz with a 0.2-V supply voltage. The measured phase noise is -104 dBc/Hz@1 MHz-offset with a power consumption of 114 µW, and the FoM is -187 dBc/Hz.

In this paper we present a study on the design optimization of voltage-controlled oscillators. The phase noise of LC-type oscillators is basically limited by the quality factor of inductors. It has been experimentally shown that higher-Q inductors can be achieved at higher frequencies while the oscillation frequency is limited by parasitic capacitances. In this paper, the minimum transistor size and the degradation of the quality factor caused by a switched-capacitor array are analytically estimated, and the maximum oscillation frequency of VCOs is also derived from an equivalent circuit by considering parasitic capacitances. According to the analytical evaluation, the phase noise of a VCO using a 65 nm CMOS is 2 dB better than that of a 180 nm CMOS.

The multiple-divide technique, using the multi-ratio frequency divider, has a possibility to improve FoM of VCO. This paper proposes a design optimization of LC-VCO using the multiple-divide technique. In the simulated results using 90-nm CMOS model parameters, the optimum frequency range, achieving better than -187.0 dBc/Hz of FoM, can be extended from 6.5-12.5 GHz to 1.5-12.5 GHz. The proposed multiple-divide technique can provide a lower phase-noise, lower power consumption, smaller layout area of LC-VCO.