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 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
13

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

14

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

15

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

16

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
17

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
18

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
19

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

20

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

21

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
22

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
23

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

24

Suppression of Bias Current-Source Noise in LC-Oscillators

A. Tasic 2009

25

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

26

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

27

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
28

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

29

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

30

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

31

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
32

VCO w/ RID vs. VCO w/o RID

to ground

to ground

to TCS transistors

to ground

A. Tasic 2009

33

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 34

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

35

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

36

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

A. Tasic 2009

37

Worriless Low-Voltage LC-Oscillators

A. Tasic 2009

38

Low-Voltage Bipolar LC-VCO

VCC L C

bias current
IBIAS Q1

LC-tank (fixed or tunable)

CC RB CV

CC RB CV V TUNE RRD

Q2

transconductor and C-coupling

f0-tuning resistive degeneration
39

QCS

RRD-CS

RRD

A. Tasic 2009

Low-Voltage CMOS LC-VCO

VCC C L C

LC-tank (fixed or tunable)

Q1 CV V TUNE VI
BIAS,TUNE

Q2 CV

transconductor
f0-tuning bias current

VI

BIAS,TUNE

RRD

RRD
A. Tasic 2009

resistive degeneration
40

Pros of Emitter (Source)-Tuned LC-VCOs

Low supply voltage operation - single transistor between rails Stable gm-cell bias from resistive degeneration Controlled degeneration/bias current/swing from triode MOS transistor (Large) frequency-tuning range

combined emitter/LC-tank tuning

A. Tasic 2009

41

Pros of Emitter-Tuned LC-VCOs

Good phase noise trade-off between degeneration/bias current/voltage swing

gm-cell noise suppressed at all times (large) voltage swing trade-off between resistive degeneration and bias current lossy emitter varactor away from LC-tank superior high-frequency (e.g. 60GHz) performance over tail-biased VCOs
1/f noise contribution large for small transistors in tail-biased VCOs 1/f noise contribution reduced with degeneration in emitter-tunedA.VCOs at all times Tasic 2009

42

Mixer Noise Factor (from Noise Factor of LC-Oscillators)

A. Tasic 2009

43

CMOS and Bipolar Mixers

iGTOT
2C
RTOT/ 2 RTOT/ 2

iGTOT
2C
RTOT/ 2 RTOT/ 2

2C

2C

iD1

Q1

LO+

LO-

vB1
Q2

iD2

iC1

Q1

~
iB1

LO+

LO-

vB2

~
iB2

Q2

iC2

Igm
RF Qgm

igm

Igm
RF Qgm

igm

vLO=vVCO kVCO(small-signal loop gain)=kMIX(small-signal gain) kVCO=gmRTK/2, kMIX=gmRTOT/2 VCO and Mix gms equal A. Tasic 2009 RTK=RTOT 44

Folding of Mixer Noise Components

1

RC load
-2f0 -f0 g-2

vN ( )

vN ( )

f0 g0
vN ( ) vN ( )
vN (2 f0 )

2f0 g2
vN (2 f0 )

switching pair
-3f0

vN ( 2 f0 ) vN ( 2 f0 )

-2f0

-f0 c-1
vN ( f0 ) vN ( f0 )

f0 c1
vN ( f0 ) vN ( f0 )

2f0

3f0 c3
v N (3 f 0 ) v N (3 f 0 )

gm cell

c-3
vN ( 3 f0 ) vN ( 3 f0 )

-4f0

-3f0

-2f0

-f0

f0

2f0

3f0

4f0

RC load noise components at offset frequency switching pair noise components around even LO multiples A. Tasic around 2009 gm-cell noise components odd LO multiples 45

CMOS Mixer Noise Power

RC-load noise contribution
2 vNF ( RTOT )

2v 2 ( RTOT ) N
2 2 dRTK iN ( I D )
2 RTK 2 2 iN ( gm ) 4

4 KTRTOT

switching pair noise contribution

2 vNF (2 I D )

2 KT RTOT
KTRTOT / GTOT

gm-cell noise contribution

2 vNF ( gm )

total output noise power

2 vCMOS

2 KTRTOT (2

2GTOT

A. Tasic 2009

46

Bipolar Mixer Noise Power

RC-load noise contribution
2 vNF ( RTOT )

2v 2 ( RTOT ) N
2 2 dRTK iN ( IC )

4 KTRTOT

switching pair noise contribution

2 vNF (2 I C )
2 vNF (2rB )

KTRTOT
2 KTRTOT 2 kc(d 3 0.5k )

2 KTRTOT

gm-cell noise contribution

2 vNF ( gm )

4 2 dk c 3

2 KTRTOT k (1 2kc)
1 2 2 kc k (1 2kc ) 3
A. Tasic 2009

total output noise power

2 vBIP

2 KTRTOT 2

47

(CMOS) VCO vs. Mixer Noise Power

2 vCMOS ,VCO

2 KTRTOT (1

4GTK

2 vCMOS , MIX

2 KTRTOT (2

2GTOT

2X more correlated VCO folded noise components x for correlated VCO single-side band phase-noise related components (2X=1X VCO vs. Mix noise components) load noise contribution: VCO gain=(g0+g2)2RTK2=1 vs. Mix gain= (1+1)2=2 switching pair noise contribution: VCO gain=1 vs. Mix gain=1 tail noise contribution: VCO gain=1 vs. Mix gain=2 ( VCO PN contribution lost in AM noise from c0 conversion)
A. Tasic 2009

48

(Bipolar) VCO vs. Mixer Design

2 vBIP

2 KTRTOT 2

1 2

4 2 dk c k (1 2kc ) 3

Constant noise-figure contributions RC-load noise contribution ~ 2 switching pair current shot noise contribution ~ Small-signal gain related contributions switching pair base-resistance and gm-cell noise contributions ~ k2 and d Mixer small-signal gain independent of LO signal

swing Trade-off between LO swing (~1/d) and switching pair small-signal gain (~k)
A. Tasic 2009

49

System Noise Issues

A. Tasic 2009

50

System Phase Noise

PN=f2(PNVCO) PN=f1(PNVCO)

X X
VCO VCO_I VCO_Q

X
VCO_I VCO_Q

PNVCO

X
PNVCO
VCO
VCO_Q

X
/n
VCO_I

A. Tasic 2009

51

Mixer Noise Factor in a System

RS
FMIX

RS

X
FMIX

RL

RS
FMIX

F=f1(FMIX)

RS
FLNA
LNA

RS

RS/2

X
FMIX

FLNA

RS
FMIX

power combiner

90

RL

RS

X
FMIX
A. Tasic 2009

F=f2(FMIX)

52

LNA Noise Factor in a System

F=f2(FLNA) F=f1(FLNA) FMIX F=FLNA FMIX FLNA
LNA
VCO_Q

F=f3(FLNA)

F=f4(FLNA)

X
VCO_I VCO_Q

X
VCO_I

IR

X X
VCO_I VCO_Q

A. Tasic 2009

53

BBF Noise in a System

BBF Noise Power Transfer vs. passive mixer impedance degeneration and LO duty cycle
R + LNA+ RF+ RTIA

I+ I-

RF-

+ -

Q+ Q-

A. Tasic 2009

54

Receiver Noise (Signal) Transformations

Noise Power Transfer power matched interface Noise Power Combining Noise Voltage/Current Transfer - resonantmatched interface Noise Voltage/Current Combining Correlated/Uncorrelated Combining (e.g., I-mixer gm-cell noise splits between I and Q paths)
A. Tasic 2009

55

Conclusions

A. Tasic 2009

56

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

57