1

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LC Voltage Control Oscillator AAC
A Stable Loss-Control Feedback Loop to Regulate the
oscillation Amplitude of LC VCOs
Problem: Previously reported AAC loops use a
conditionally stable negative feedback loop

Motivation: To propose a practically stable
negative feedback loop
ECE 665 (ESS)
2
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VCO Amplitude Control
More on VCO AAC loop
Fast and reliable start up.
Optimal bias point in terms of phase noise
performance.
Adequate amplitude over wide oscillation frequency
range.
Variations of oscillation amplitude could be fast when
other digital blocks pull the ground or the power
supply rails.
VCO-based Q-tuning.
3
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LC Filters
Active LC filters
The advent of highly integrated wireless
communication transceivers.
Persistent effort to improve the quality of on-chip
spiral inductors.
Superior dynamic range performance.
However,
Reactive elements integrated on silicon are more
non-ideal than corresponding discrete parts.
Automatic tuning is a major challenge.

ECE 665 (ESS
4
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LC Filters: Q-Tuning
Tuning techniques
Direct tuning: Self-tuning
Filter is the plant in the tuning
system
Tuning accuracy doesnt rely on
matching.
Filter
Slave
Filter
Master
Control
Tuning reference
Input Output
Filter
Slave
Control
Tuning
reference
Input Tuning
Output Tunign
Input Signal Output Signal
Indirect tuning: master-slave
VCF-based : Master is a filter
VCO-based : Master is a VCO
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LC Filters: Q-Tuning
VCF-base tuning
A reference signal with low harmonic content.
A phase detector having low offsets.
Since output amplitude varies with frequency thus Q-tuning loop
heavily relies on frequency tuning loop.
VCO-base tuning
No reference signal is needed.
Amplitude and phase of the VCO are independent, theoretically,
thus the Q-tuning and frequency tuning loops are not affecting
each other.
Leakage of the VCO output to signal path.
Inherent nonlinearity of VCO and its effect on Q-tuning accuracy.
6
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VCO-Based Q-Tuning
Principle of Operation
VCO: Large signal
in
G
Slave Filter
in
v
L
L
R
C
coupling
C
Amplitude
Control
Loop
L
L
R
C
L
L
R
C
Master VCO
neg
G neg
G
neg
G
0
3
, 0
1
;
3
3 1
> < + = a a
out
v a
out
v a
neg
G
i
0
1 3
2
3 1
2
2
= +
|
.
|

\
|
+
+
+
out
out
out
P out
v
LC dt
dv
v
C
a
C
G a
dt
v d
P
P
s
s
s out
G a f or
a
G a
A
A
t A v
>

=
=
1
3
1
0
,
3
2
: as found be can amplitude n oscillatio
state steady the ), sin( If
7
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VCO-Based Q-Tuning
L
C
A a
Q
s
filter slave
2
3
3
4
: regime signal small in operating
filter, slaved For the
~

in
G
Slave Filter
in
v
L
L
R
C
coupling
C
Amplitude
Control
Loop
L
L
R
C
L
L
R
C
Master VCO
neg
G neg
G
neg
G
8
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VCO-Based Q-Tuning
Experimental results
15mA : Current
1.8V : Supply
0.144mm : Area
m 0.35 TSMC
2

Q=50, 75, 115, 160

3- F. Bahmani, E. Sanchez-Sinencio, VCO-based quality factor tuning of a second-order
LC filter at 2.25GHz Under revision of IEE Electronics Letters, 2006.
9
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Loss-Control Feedback
10
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Loss-Control Feedback
11
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Loss-Control Feedback
Control the overall
LC tanks loss by
changing G
neg

Int
s
Int
ENV s
Int
s
ref
A
s
A
s
A
s A
s A
s H
t
o
t
t o
t
o
2 2
2
) (
) (
) (
2
+
= =
Different signs of the denominator: unstable!
neg
G G
I
t A

=
tank
bias
) (
: amplitude n Oscillatio
ref
A
env
V
) cos( ) ( ) (
0
t t A t V
o
e =
C
V
dd
V
Int
st
1
) (
detector
Envelop
env
t
bias
I
tank
G
neg
G
12
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How can we stabilize the LCF loop?
Use a local feedback loop (F)
Int
s ENV s
Int
REF
Int
s
A
s
A
F s
s A
A
s A
t
o t o
t
t
o
2 2
1
) (
2
) (
2
+
|
.
|

\
|
+
=
)
ref
A
env
V
cos( ) ( ) (
0
t t A t V
o
e =
F
detector
Envelop
Int
st
1

VCO
C
V
3 . 1 : VCO LC typical a For
2
: t requiremen Stability
~
= >
critical
ENV s
critical
F
A
F F
t o
13
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Transient Behavior of the Proposed LCF
Step Response
Trade-off between power and settling
time
( ) 0 ) (
2
1
02
1
= +
|
|
.
|

\
|
+
|
|
.
|

\
|
A t A
C
G
A
A
A
A
dt
d
loop
m
Int
o
t

Detector
Envelope
1 m
G

) (t v
env
ref
v
e
v c
v
loop
C
2
1
m
G
L
C neg
G
loss
R
VCO
1
2
m
m
G
G
F =
14
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Loss-Control Feedback: Implementation
ENV
C
( )
ref out
A V or
( )
ref env
V V or
1 ME 2 ME
3 ME 4 ME
bias
I
( )
+ + ref out
A V or
dd
V
dd
V
L
L
4 M
3 M
Mtail
detector
Envelop
detector
Envelop
ref
A
C
V
loop
C
1 m
G
2 m
G
out
V
+ out
V
C C
f
V
env
V
ref
V
LPF
1
2
m
m
G
G
F =
8mA : Current
2.8V : Supply
0.046mm : Area
m 0.35 TSMC
2

Experimental results
15
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Loss-Control Feedback: Experimental Results
2 = F
F=0
Unstable
F=2
Stable
Phase noise
16
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Loss-Control Feedback: Experimental Results

40
30
-35
-33
-31
-29
-27
-25
-23
1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 2.6
Bias voltage of the VCO tail current source [V]
O
s
c
i
l
l
a
t
i
o
n

a
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e

[
d
B
m
]
-120
-115
-110
-105
-100
-95
P
h
a
s
e

n
o
i
s
e

@

1
M
H
z

[
d
B
c
/
H
z
]
- 40
- 42
- 44
- 46
- 48
- 50
H
D
3

[
d
B
]
Measured oscillation amplitude ()
Phase noise ()
HD3 ()
Stability over the amplitude tuning range

4- F. Bahmani, E. Sanchez-Sinencio,A stable loss-control feedback Loop for amplitude
regulation of LC Oscillators IEEE Transactions on Circuit and Systems I, 2006.
17
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A New Q-Tuning Scheme: Why?
To tune the quality factor of an LC filter
VCO-based approach is the best choice
Needs perfect match between the LC filter and LC VCO
Needs a stable amplitude control loop for VCO
The tuning range of Q depends on the VCO amplitude and
nonlinearities of the G
neg
:

L
C
A a
Q
s
filter slave
2
3
3
4
~

Is there any way to tune Q to an arbitrary

value?
18
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LC Filters Q-Tuning
An Accurate Automatic Quality Factor Tuning
Scheme for Gigahertz Range LC Filters
19
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LC Filters Q-Tuning
L L
1
M
2
M
3
M
4
M
5
M
6
M
in
V
+ in
V
dd
V
C C
out
V
gm
V
q
V
f
V ( )
( )
T q q P
T gm m
neg P
m
V V G
V V
G G
G
A


=

=
|
| 2
0
) (
1
T q q P
V V G L
C
Q

=
|
Basics of 2
nd
order LC filter
2
0
0
2
0
0
) (
) (
) (
e
e
e
+ +

=
s
Q
s
s
Q
A
s V
s V
s H
in
o
20
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LC Filters Q-Tuning
0
0
1
1
2
1
2
1
1
e
e
e e
L
L
Q
Q

=
|
|
.
|

\
|
~
) 1 (
2
) (
0
j
A
j H
L
+ = e
0 0
A ) H(j =
2 / A ) H(j ) H(j
0 H L
= =
L

BW 3dB -
Basics idea:
Two amplitude locked loop: one at
0
and the
other one at
L
.
21
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LC Filters Q-Tuning
f
V
q
V g
m
V
0 f
V
t cos V
0 0
e
t cos V A
0 0 0
e
LPF
d
A / 1
LPF
d
A
V A
2
2
0 0
t V A
0
2 2
0 0
cos e
Tuning Amplitude
1 Loop
}
2
2
0
V
a
error
(

+ t 2 sin
2
1
t cos
L L
2
e e
2
t cos V
L L
e
( ) t sin t cos
A
L L
0
e e +
L
V
f
V
q
V g
m
V
0 f
V
0
2
A
2
L
V
LPF
d
A / 2
LPF
FB
d
L
A
V A
2
2
0
Tuning - Q
2 Loop
}
2
2
L
V
q
error
Loop Tuning Amplitude Loop Tuning Factor Quality
Proposed Scheme
22
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LC Filters Q-Tuning
Stability analysis via phase portrait
technique
)
2
1 (
)
2
1 ( ) 1
1
1
4
(
0
0
2 2
u A
v
K v
u A
v
K
K
u LQ
C
u A
v
K u
d
d L m
q
d
d
L
=

+
=

|
|
( ) ) (
2
1 1
: point m Equilibriu
0 0
0
T q q P
m
d
T gm
d
P
q
T q
V V G
A
V V
L
C
Q
G V V
+ =
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ =
|
|
|
23
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LC Filters Q-Tuning: Implementation
5mA : Current
1.3V : Supply
0.073mm : Area
m 0.35 TSMC
2

One filter is used to overcome

the mismatch problem
f
V
q
V g
m
V
LPF
d
A / 1
LPF
}
CHIP
OFF
24
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LC Filters Q-Tuning: Multiplier
1
R
2
R
3
R
4
R
R
C
R
C
1
M
2
M
3
M 4
M
5
M
1 b
M
6
M
7
M
8
M
9
M
2 b
M
3 b
M
4 b
M
11
M
12
M
LPF LPF
10
M
+ in
V
in
V
+ in
V
in
V
+ out
v
out
v
bias
V
bleeding
I
Self-multiplier
Linearized Gilbert cell
) cos( t A e
2
2
A
t Measuremen
: Circles
Simulation
: line
25
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LC Filters Q-Tuning: Experimental
Results
A
0
(dB)={-15, -10, -5, 0}
Q={60, 80, 120, 220}
Q={50, 60, 70, 120}
A
0
(dB)=0.
Independent tuning of Q and A
0

5- F. Bahmani, T. S. Gotarredona, E. Sanchez-Sinencio, An accurate quality factor and amplitude tuning scheme
for high frequency LC bandpass filters submitted to the IEEE Transaction on Circuit and System I, 2006.
26
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Conclusion

A stable amplitude control feedback loop
for LC VCOs is proposed and its
application in the VCO-based Q-tuning of
LC filters are demonstrated
An accurate Q-tuning scheme for 2
nd
order
active LC filters is presented.


27
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References

F. Bahmani, and E. Snchez-Sinencio, "A Stable Loss
Control Feedback Loop for VCO Amplitude Tuning",
IEEE Transaction on Circuits and Systems I: Regular
Papers: Volume: 53, Issue 12, pp. 2498-2506, Dec.
2006.
F. Bahmani, E. Snchez-Sinencio, VCO-based quality
factor tuning of a second-order LC filter at 2.25GHz in
dissertation
F.Bahmani, T. Serrano-Gotarredona, and E. Snchez-
Sinencio, "An Accurate Automatic Quality Factor Tuning
Scheme for 2nd-Order LC Filters", IEEE Transaction on
Circuits and Systems I, pp745-756, Vol 54, Issue
4, April 2007.

28
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Publication
7. F. Bahmani, E. Sanchez-Sinencio, A Low THD, 10.7 MHz Tuned Oscillator Using
Positive Feedback And Multilevel Hard Limiter submitted to the IEE Transaction on
Circuits, Devices and Systems, 2006.

8. F. Bahmani, E. Sanchez-Sinencio, A highly Linear 3rd order CMOS Pseudo-Differential
Low Pass Filter to be submitted to the Journal of Solid State Circuit, 2006.

9. S. W. Park, F. Bahmani, E. Sanchez-Sinencio, A 10.7 MHz Linearized Switched-
Capacitor Based Oscillator Using the Multilevel Hard Limiter To be submitted to the
IEEE Journal of Solid State Circuit, 2006.