"Integrated RF and mmWave CMOS Voltage Controlled Oscillators"

- Andrea Mazzanti, University of Pavia

This educational tutorial will cover the fundamentals of CMOS voltage controlled LC oscillators with emphasis on the aspects of spectral purity and frequency tuning. The tutorial starts by introducing phase noise analysis and performance metrics applied to the most common oscillator topologies, such as the Colpitts and cross-coupled LC-tank. An overview of state of the art oscillators able to achieve high spectral purity and power efficiency is proposed, with a particular focus on the Class-C topology. The second part of the tutorial will deal with the aspect of frequency tuning. Different techniques and design tread-offs are presented. A recently reported example of wide-band mm-wave VCO based on inductive-splitting for tuning extension concludes the tutorial.