On the Phase Noise and Noise Factor in Circuits and Systems New Thoughts on an Old Subject

Aleksandar Tasic QCT - Analog/RF Group Qualcomm Incorporated, San Diego

A. Tasic 2009

Outline
Spectral Analysis of Noise in LC-Oscillators
LC-tank, gm-cell, bias current source noise (Phase-) Noise factor

Bipolar vs. CMOS LC-Oscillators LC-Oscillators Noise Reduction Methods Mixer Noise Factor from VCO Noise Factor Oscillator Phase Noise in Receivers SNR LNA and Mixer Noise Factors in a Receiver BBFilter Noise Transfer vs. LO/Mix Duty
A. Tasic 2009

Phase Noise Model of Bipolar and CMOS LC-Oscillators

A. Tasic 2009

Outline
Oscillation Condition LC-Tank Noise Folding gm-Cell Noise Folding Bias-Current Source Noise Folding Phase-Noise Model of Bipolar LC-Oscillators Phase-Noise Model of CMOS LC-Oscillators Bipolar vs. CMOS LC-Oscillators
A. Tasic 2009

LC-Oscillator Noise Sources

iGTK
L/2 2C
RTK /2

L/2 2C
RTK /2

LC-tank noise
2 iN (GTK )

2 KTGTK

vB1 iC1
Q1

vB2

~
iB1

~
iB2

transconductor noise
Q2

iC2

2 iN ( IC )

qI C

2 KTgm / 2

2 vN ( rB )

2 KTrB

ITAIL
QCS

iBCS

bias current source noise

2 iN ( I BCS )

KTgm,CS (1 2rB,CS gm,CS )

5

A. Tasic 2009

Oscillator and Phase-Noise Model

gm- cell
vN

iNO ,
* iN ,O ( f 0

iPM

( f iN ,O 0
)

iAM

vNO ,

LC- tank

iS

phase-modulating noise component (double-sided)

iPM ( f 0 iPM ( f 0
2 vPM ,TOT

phase-related noise power (single-sided)

1 iPM ( f 0 2 ) iPM ( f 0 )
2
A. Tasic 2009

1 * ) iN ,O ( f 0 ) iN ) ,O ( f 0 2 1 * ) iN ,O ( f 0 ) iN ,O ( f 0 2

)
)
2 2 iPM ,TOT

Z ( f0

4 CTOT

gm-Cell Transfer Function

small-signal gain in the presence of a large signal
i OUT gIN =di OUT dvS

vS - g =gm /2
d / 2f 0 1/ 2f0 1/f0

g2i

2 T0

T0 / 4 T0 / 4

g (t )e
2

j 2 i 0t

dt

g 2i
g-4 g-2 g0

sin(i d ) gd i d
g2

1 2k
g4

Fourier domain (magnitude) complex harmonic components

-4f0

-3f0

-2f0

-f0

A. Tasic 2009

f0

2f0

3f0

4f0 7

Oscillation Condition
harmonics: gm-cell and oscillation signal
g-2 g0 vS/2 vS/2 g2

-2f0

-f0

f0

2f0

convolution:

g0vS/2 g-2 vS/2 -f0 f0

g0 vS/2 g2 vS/2 2f0

-2f0

oscillation signal:
vS vS ( f 0 ) g0 2 vS ( f 0 ) g0 2 vS ( f 0 ) g2 2 vS ( f 0 ) g 2
2

RTK

( g0

g 2 )vS RTK

oscillation condition: small-signal loop gain: k=RTKgm/2 g0 g2 GTK

A. Tasic 2009

duty cycle: d=1/(2k)

8

LC-Tank Noise Folding

convolution: g0 and g
g-2
vN ( f0 )
vN (

harmonics and LC-tank noise

g0 g2
vN ( f 0 ) vN ( f 0 )
)

f0

-2f0 g0 v N (
f0 )

-f0 g0v N (
f0 )

f0 g0 v N ( f 0 ) g0 v N ( f 0 )

2f0

-2f0

-f0

f0

2f0

g-2
vN ( f0 )
vN ( f0 )

g0
vN ( f 0 ) vN ( f 0 )

g2

-2f0

-f0 g-2 v N ( f 0 ) g-2 v N ( f 0 )

f0

2f0

g2 v N ( f 0 ) g2v N ( f 0 )

-2f0

-f0

A. Tasic 2009

f0

2f0

LC-Tank Noise Folding

LC-tank noise contribution:
g0 v N (
f0 )

g0v N (

f0 )

g0 v N ( f 0

g0 v N ( f 0

-2f0 g-2 v N ( f 0

-f0
)

f0 g-2 v N ( f 0
)

2f0 g2v N (
f0 )

g2 v N (

f0 )

-2f0

-f0

f0

2f0

i N ,O ( f 0
i N ,O ( f 0 ) g0 v N ( f 0 ) g 2v N ( f 0 )

g0 vN ( f 0

) g2vN ( f0

i N ,O ( f 0
i N ,O ( f 0 ) g0 vN ( f 0 ) g 2vN ( f 0 )
A. Tasic 2009

g0 vN ( f 0

) g2vN ( f0

10

LC-Tank Noise Contribution

phase-modulating noise component: 1 iPM iN ,O ( f 0 ) iN ,O ( f 0 ) iN ,O ( f 0 2 iPM ( g0 g2 )vN ( f 0 ) ( g 0 g 2 )v N ( f 0 phase-related noise power (k>>1, g=g0=g 2): 2 i PM ( RTK ) ( g0 g2 )2 v 2 ( RTK ) N LC-tank noise transfer function:
g 2 ( RTK ) ( g0 g2 )2
2 GTK

) iN ,O ( f 0

LC-tank noise factor: 2 ( RTK ) 2i PM ( RTK ) 2( g0 g2 )2 v 2 N F ( RTK ) 4 KTGTK 4 KTGTK

A. Tasic 2009

2 2 2GTK v N ( RTK )

4 KTGTK

4 KTGTK 4 KTGTK
11

gm-Cell Noise Folding

g-4

convolution: g0 and g
g-2
vN ( f0 ) vN (

harmonics and f0 gm-cell noise

g0 g2
f0 )
vN ( f0 ) vN ( f0 )

g4

vN ( 3 f0 ) vN ( 3 f0 )

v N (3 f 0 ) v N (3 f 0 )

-4f0

-3f0

-2f0

-f0

f0

2f0

3f0

4f0

g0 v N (

f0 )

g0v N (

f0 )

g0 v N ( f 0

g0 v N ( f 0

-2f0 g- 2 v N ( f 0

-f0
)

f0 g- 2 v N ( f 0
)

2f0 g2v N (
f0 )

g2 v N (

f0 )

-2f0

-f0

f0

2f0

gm-cell noise around odd multiples of the oscillation frequency is folded to the LC-tank noise around the oscillation frequency A. Tasic 2009
12

gm-Cell Noise Contribution

phase-modulating noise component:
iPM ( g0 +( g2 +( g2i
2

g 2 )v N ( f 0 g4 )vN (3 f 0

) ( g0 ) ( g2

g 2 )v N ( f 0 g 4 )v N (3 f 0 ) ( g2i
2

) ) ... g2i )v N ((2i 1) f 0 )

g2i )vN ((2i 1) f 0

phase-related noise power (k>>1, g=g0=g 2=):

2 i PM ( gm IN )

( g0

g2 )2 ( g2

g4 )2 ... ( g2i

g 2i ) 2 v 2 ( gm N

IN )

number of g2i harmonic components: 2 f0 1 1 d 2 f0 d number of (g2i-2+g2i) folding pairs:

1 2d 2k 2 k
d/2f0

-g=gm/2

2f0 / d
A. Tasic 2007
13

gm-Cell Noise Contributions

phase-related noise power:
i PM ( gm
2 IN )

1 ( g 2i 2d
2

g 2i ) v N ( g m

2 2

IN )

2 2 g2 i 2 v N ( gm d

2 2 ) 2 dg v N ( gm IN

IN )

gm-cell noise transfer function:

g ( gm

IN )

2dg

gm 2 2d ( ) 2
2 2kGTK 4 KTrB 4 KTGTK

1 2 (kGTK )2 2k

2 kGTK

gm-cell noise factors:

F (2rB )
2 2i PM (2rB )

4 KTGTK
2 2i PM (2 I C )

2krB GTK

kc

F (2 I C )

4 KTGTK

2 2kGTK 2 KT / g m 4 KTGTK
A. Tasic 2009

kGTK / g m

1 2
14

rB Noise Contribution Be Precise

phase-related noise power (k>>1):
2 i PM ( rB ) 2 2 g0 2 4 g2 2 2 4 g4 ... 4 g2 i 2

v2 (rB ) N

Pasevals Theorem:
g ( rB ) 2 g 0
2 2

2
i 1

g 2i

2 T2

T2 / 2

g (t )dt
T2 / 2

4 T2

g (1
0

) dt

4 2 g d 3

rB noise factor:

F (2rB )

2 2i PM (rB )

4 KTGTK

2 kc 3
A. Tasic 2007
15

Bias Current-Source Noise Transfer Function

gm-cell large-signal V-to-I transfer function
IOUT
1

IOUT

V IN
-1 1 / f0
1/f0

c2i

sin((2i 1) / 2) (2i 1) / 2

Fourier domain (magnitude) complex harmonic components

c-1 c1 c3 c-3

-4f0

-3f0

-2f0

-f0

A. Tasic 2009

f0

2f0

3f0

16

4f0

BCS Noise Contribution

BCS noise around even multiples of the oscillation frequency is folded to the LC-tank noise around the oscillation frequency

phase-related noise power: 2 i 1 2 PM , DIFF ( I BCS ) 2 iPM ( I BCS ) iN ( I BCS ) 4 4

BCS noise transfer function:

g ( I BCS )

1 4
2 2i PM ( I BCS )

BCS noise factor:

F ( I BCS )

4 KTGTK

KTg m (1 2rB g m ) 4 KTGTK

KT 2kGTK (1 2kc) 4 KTGTK

1 1 k (1 2kc) k ( kc) k F (2 I C ) F (2rB ) 2 2A. Tasic 2009

17

Phase-Noise Model of Bipolar Switching LC-Oscillators

Noise factor:
F F ( RTK ) F (2 I C ) F (2rB ) F ( I BCS ) 1 2 2 1 kc k ( 3 2 kc) 1 1 2 (1 k ) kc( 2 3 k)

F 1

Phase noise:

L ( RTK ) L(2 I C ) L(2rB ) L( I BCS )

(4 CTOT )
2

4 KTGTK F 2 v2 (4 C ) TOT S

vS
k)

kVT

4 KTGTK 2 ( ) (4 CTOT )2 8VT

1 2 (1 k ) kc( 2 3 k2

A. Tasic 2009

18

Phase Noise Model of Bipolar Switching LC-Oscillators

1 F 1 2 2 1 kc k ( kc) 3 2

Constant phase-noise contributions

LC-tank noise contribution ~ 1 gm-cell current shot noise contribution ~

Small-signal loop-gain related contributions

gm-cell base-resistance noise contribution ~ 0.66ck phase-noise contribution of the bias current source is k-times larger then the noise contribution of the gm-cell ~ k(+ck)! A. Tasic 2009
19

Low/High-Performance VCO Designs

high ss loop-gain, high quality LC-tank, BCS noise eliminated: e.g., k>>1(=10), c<<1(~0.01) 1 2 1 kc 7.8 1 1 1 2 3 L~ ~ 2 2 5 10 10 k k

high ss loop-gain, high quality LC-tank, BCS noise present:

e.g., k>>1(=10), c<<1(~0.01)
k( 1 kc) 2 k2 1 2 k kc

L~

3 1 1 ~ 5 10 k

low ss loop-gain, low quality LC-tank, BCS noise present: 7 3 e.g., k~1(=2), c~1(~0.5) (1 k ) 5 6 2 L~ ~1 2 4 k A. Tasic 2009
20

Single/Double-Switch CMOS LC-VCOs

2 iN (GTK )

2 KTGTK
iGTK iD3
L/2 2C
RTK/2

i ( I D, P ) 2KT
Q3

2 N

VDD
P

gm, P
Q
4

iD4

L/2 2C
RTK/2

iGTK
L/2 2C
RTK/2

L/2 2C
RTK/2

iD1

Q1
2 iN (ID )

Q2

i D2
Q1
2 iN ( I D, N )

2 KT g m
QCS

iD1

Q2

iD2

2 KT

iBCS
2 iN ( I BCS )

gm , N

dN

GTK gm

2 KT gm,CS

Q CS

iBCS

dC

A. Tasic 2009

GTK 2 gm
21

Phase Noise Model of CMOS LC-Oscillators

Noise factor ( N= P, gm,N=gm,P):
FSS FSS F ( RTK ) F (2 I D ) F ( I BCS ) 1 g m,CS /(4GTK )

FDS FDS

F ( RTK ) F (4I D ) F (I BCS ) 1 g m,CS / GTK

Phase noise:

L
4 KTGTK 1 (4 C ) 2

L ( RTK ) L(2 I D ) L( I BCS )

(4 CTOT )2

4 KTGTK F 2 v2 (4 C ) TOT S
g m,CS / GTK 4 KTGTK 1 (4 C ) 2 ( 4 I R ) 2 TAIL TK

LSS

g m ,CS /(4GTK ) 2 ( ITAIL RTK ) 2

LDS

A. Tasic 2009

22

Phase Noise Model of CMOS LC-Oscillators

F 1 gm,CS / GTK
Constant phase-noise contributions LC-tank noise contribution ~ 1 gm-cell drain-current thermal noise contribution ~

Small-signal loop-gain related contributions (?)

bias current source noise contribution ~ gm,CS/GTK (k )

A. Tasic 2009

23

CMOS vs. Bipolar LC-Oscillators

noise factors (for removed BCS noise):

1 FBIP 1 2 FCMOS 1

2 kc 3

bipolar VCO better for the same power consumption (vs,BIP=vs,CMOS)

3 2

2 kc 3

5 3

krB

RTK 8 80 1 80
24

e.g., k=10, RTK=800

e.g., k=10, RTK=80

rB

800 10 80
A. Tasic 2009

rB

CMOS vs. Bipolar LC-Oscillators

power consumption figure of merit:
2

FOM

10log L ( )
0

VCC I CC

VCC=1.8V, vs,BIP=0.4V, vs,SS-CMOS=1.2V, (3ICC,BIP=ICC,SS-CMOS)

FOM BIP

FOM SS

CMOS

4.8dB

VCC=1.8V, vs,BIP=0.4V, vs,DS-CMOS=1.2V, (1.5ICC,BIP=ICC,DS-CMOS)

FOM BIP

FOM DS

CMOS

7.8dB
25

A. Tasic 2009

Phase-Noise Model Conclusions

Parametric Phase-Noise Model

electrical circuit parameters (ss loop gain) worst-case phase noise (bandwidth unlimited)

Bipolar vs. CMOS LC-Oscillators

bipolar ss loop-gain related contributions vS,BIP~k (<<VCC), vS,CMOS~VCC bipolar capacitive tapping for larger vS,BIP, but also larger k-related noise contributions and power consumption
A. Tasic 2009

26

Verification of the Phase-Noise Model

A. Tasic 2007

27

VCO Noise Contributions

f0~5.74GHz, RTK~340 , n~1.65, c~0.25, VCC=2.2V
iGTK
L CV

VCC VTUNE

CV

LC-tank noise ~ 1

vB1 iC1
Q1

vB2
CB CA CB CA

~
iB1

~
iB2

Q2

iC2

transconductor noise ~ n(0.5+0.66ck)

ITAIL
QCS

iBCS

bias current-source noise ~ n(0.5+ck)k

28

A. Tasic 2007

gm-Cell Noise Contributions

k=0.5gmRTK<0.5gm,actualRTK=0.5gmRTK/(1+gmrE)=kactual
1 0,95 0,9 0,85 0,8

F (2I C ) simulations calculations

F (2rB )

2 nkc 3

2 1.65 0.25 k 3

0.27 k

F (2 r B ) 2,5

simulations calculations

0,75

2
0,7 4 6 8 9,6

k
1,5

F ( IC )

n 2

0,5

0.87
0 4 6 8 9,6 k

A. Tasic 2007

29

Bias Noise Contributions

7 6 5 4
20

F (I C,CS ) simulations calculation s

F (rB,CS ) knkc 1.65 0.25 k 2

0.41 k 2

3 2 1 0 4 6 8 9,6
k

F (r B,CS )

18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0

simulation s calculation

F ( I C ,CS )

1 nk 2

0.82k
A. Tasic 2007

9.6

30

Suppression of Bias Current-Source Noise in LC-Oscillators

A. Tasic 2009

31

Outline
Contribution of Bias Current-Source Noise to Phase Noise of LC-Oscillators Techniques for Reduction of Bias CurrentSource Noise Noise Analysis of Degenerated Bias Current Source Bias Noise Suppression - Design Example

A. Tasic 2009

32

VCO Noise Contributions

iGTK
L CV

VCC VTUNE

CV

LC-tank noise ~ 1

vB1 iC1
Q1

vB2
CB CA CB CA

~
iB1

~
iB2

Q2

iC2

transconductor noise ~ 0.5+ck

ITAIL
QCS

iBCS
A. Tasic 2009

bias current-source noise ~ (0.5+ck)k

33

VCO Noise Contributions

f0~5.74GHz, RTK~340 , n~1.65, c~0.25, VCC=2.2V
100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 4 6
A. Tasic 2009

r B,CS BCS: ~85% I C,CS rB IC R TK

8

g m: ~15%
9.6

k
34

Phase-Noise Ratio
L ( RTK ) L (2 I C ) L (2rB ) L ( I BCS ) PNR L ( RTK ) L (2 I C ) L (2rB )
10 PNR [dB] 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 4 6 8
A. Tasic 2007

n 2 1 n 1 2 k(

nkc) 2 nkc 3

PNR=8.2dB

9.6

k
35

Bias Noise Reduction Techniques

resistive degeneration
ITAIL V IN VIN

inductive degeneration
ITAIL

filtering?
ITAIL V IN

+ R D

CD

com nemitr(CE) resonatiducvedgneratio(RID) resitvdegnratio(RD)

LD

high supply required

large area if integrated noise injection if discrete A. Tasic 2009

transconductor noise always ON reduced output impedance

36

Capacitive Filtering
AC short

1 0

d'
d/ 2f0

1 (1 d ) 2

F '(2 I C ) ~ k
1/ f0

n 2

AC open

1
d/ 2f0

1 2k

0
1/2f0

F (2 I C ) ~

n 2

for k=10, d=5%, d=52.5%, and F>F

A. Tasic 2009

37

Bias Current Source with Resonant-Inductive Degeneration

ITAIL VIN
C L RID

LRID matched to C at 2f0 rB,CS noise contribution reduced

transconductance gain small at resonance series resonance common-base like configuration (gain of 1) parallel resonance emitter open at resonance (IC,CS floats)
A. Tasic 2009

IB,CS noise contribution small

IC,CS noise contribution removed

38

Circuit Diagram for Noise Transfer Functions

B C

rB ,CS
vB,CS ~

i B,CS

C ,CS
E

~
LRID

(vB - vE )gm,CS

i C ,CS

iOUT,CS

iC,CS to iOUT: vB,CS short, iB,CS open iB,CS to iOUT: vB,CS short, iC,CS open vB, CS to iOUT: iC,CS open, iB,CS open
A. Tasic 2007
39

Bias Current-Source Noise Contributions

iOUT (f) v N ( rB ,CS ) 1
T LRID T ,CS

j LRID

1 j C

gm (

f fT ,CS

series resonance
iOUT (f ) iN ( I B ,CS ) gm,CS gm,CS C rB ,CS LRID j C 1 j LRID 1 1 rB gm ( f 2 ) fT 1

parallel resonance
iOUT (f) 1 iN ( I C ,CS ) gm,CS gm ,CS C rB ,CS LRID j C 1 j LRID 1 1 1 rB gm ( f fT ,CS )2 0

A. Tasic 2007

parallel resonance 40

BCS w/ RID vs. BCS w/o RID

BCS noise with degeneration

2 CS , RID

4kT

g m ,CS 2

0 (

fT ,CS 2 f0

2rB ,CS g m ,CS

2 f0 fT ,CS

BCS noise without degeneration gm,CS fT ,CS 2 1 2 iCS 4kT 1 0( ) 2 2 f0

2

2rB ,CS gm,CS

more than a factor (fT,CS/2f0)2 noise reduction after RID

2 CS , RID

2 CS

2 f0 fT ,CS
41

for (fT,CS/2f0)=5, a factor of 25 reduction

A. Tasic 2007

VCO Noise Contributions after RID applied to BCS

f0~5.74GHz, LRID~1.3nH, RTK~340 , n~1.65, c~0.25, VCC=2.2V
100% BCS: ~6% r B,CS I C,CS

80%

rB

60% g m: ~94% IC

40%

20%

R TK

0% 4 6
A. Tasic 2009

9.6

k
42

5.7GHzband VCO
buffer

RID

LC-tank

-gm -cell

5 metals active area 0.1mm2 LRID=2.6nH, 7-turns, 0.01mm2 A. Tasic 2007

buffer

43

VCO w/ RID vs. VCO w/o RID

to ground

to ground

to TCS transistors

to ground

A. Tasic 2009

44

Phase Noise (w/ RID vs. w/o RID)

without RID with RID

6dB phase-noise improvement with RID -112dBc/Hz @1MHz from A. Tasic 5.7GHz 2009 @ 4.8mA&2.2V 45

RID Conclusions

BCS noise >> gm-cell and LC-tank noise Resonant inductive degeneration
good suppression of high frequency BCS noise low voltage operation small chip area (vs. discrete solutions)

BCS DC noise upconversion large area (vs. resistive degeneration) poorer noise suppression at high supplies (vs. resistive degeneration)
A. Tasic 2009

46

Oscillator Conclusions
Spectral Analysis of Noise in LC-Oscillators Phase-Noise Model LC-tank, gm-cell, bias current source contributions Bipolar vs. CMOS LC-Oscillators Oscillator Noise Reduction Methods Resonant-Inductive Degeneration
A. Tasic 2009

47

Future Worries
Low-(Supply and Swing)-Voltage Operation Linear and Quasi-Linear Phase-Noise Model Low-Performance Oscillators Noise-Reduction Methods

A. Tasic 2009

48

Conclusions

A. Tasic 2009

49

Conclusions
Spectral Analysis of Noise in LC-Oscillators
LC-tank, gm-cell, bias current source noise contributions

Bipolar and CMOS VCO Noise Factors LC-Oscillators Noise Reduction Methods Mixer Noise Factor from VCO Noise Factor Oscillator Phase Noise in Receivers SNR Mixer Noise Factor in a Receiver LNA Noise Factor in a Receiver BBFilter Noise Transfer vs. LO/Mix Duty
A. Tasic 2009

50