Orthogonally Tunable Inductorless R LNA for

Adaptive Wireless Systems

Shreyas Sen\ Maria Verhelst2, Abhijit Chatteree3
1
,
3
E1ectical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
2
Radio Integration Research, Intel Labs, Hillsboro, Oregon, USA
1
Student member, IEEE,
2
Member, IEEE,
3
Fellow, IEEE; email: shreyas.sen@gatech.edu
Abstract- Modern wireless systems are increasingly
incorporating adaptability to operate at low power under
varying channel conditions and to increase yield under severe
process variation. Etective adaptation requires built in tuning
knobs in the H front end circuits. Due to the sensitive nature of
H circuits traditional tuning knobs atect more than one
specifcation simultaneously. To ensure optimal adaptation it is
benefcial to have carefully designed tuning knobs that allows
independent control of important specifcations. In this paper
the design of an inductorless H LNA is discussed whose
specifcations can be traded ot independently/ orthogonally of
each other for reduced power consumption. Two built in tuning
knobs are introduced for orthogonal adaptation of Gain and
linearity. The proposed LNA, designed in 0.18" CMOS
achieves a 14 m Gain and 30 m OI3 control range as its
power consumption goes down by 20x.
I. INTRODUCTION
The continuously growing populaity of battery operated
portle systems wit wireless connectivity has madated te
desig of low power RF/aalog systems. The implementation of
these increasingly complex systems in naometer CMOS
technologies wit increased vaiability results in low yield of te RF
systems. The requirement of low power ad hig yield canot be
simultaeously solved by taditional static design techniques. Hence
there is a tst towad adaptive or reconfguable wireless systems
that use uderlying tuable RF/Analog ad Mixed Sigal blocks.
These systems meet te stingent goal of bot power ad
performace by intelligently tuing te sub blocks depending on its
environment, prcess comer ad application requirements at ay
given time. This adaptability is enabled by built in tuability in te
RF circuits allowing tade of of power vs. performace as well as
tradeot between specifcations. However, most of te taditional
RF desigs exhibit higly interdependent natue of te
specifcations. Also taditional desigs lack enoug built-in tuing
knobs to achieve independent contol of specifcations. Tis paper
higligts te benefts of caeflly desiged built in tuning kobs
ad proves te concept by using a RF LNA wit two dedicated
built-in tuing kobs tat enable independent (ortogonal) control
of two specifcations namely gain ad lineaity without ay exta
power overhead in te LNA core.
Traditional wireless circuits/systems are overdesigned to
operate uder vaing chanel conditions. Recently, RF systems are
being desiged [1], [2], [3], [4] to adapt to environment (chanel)
by tading ot te quality of te receiver font end circuits to save
power when te chanel quality is better ta worst case. For
example, when te received signal stengh is moderate and tere is
no blocker present te lineaity of the LNA can be compromised for
lower power consumption. These cnvtronmcnl JdJpltvc systems
require built in tunability i te RF font end circuits to achieve
power savings trough adaptation.
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978-1-4244-9474-31111$26.00 2011 IEEE 285
In te naometer regime increased process vaiation leads to
loss of yield as more ad more components fail one or more of te
required specifcations. This problem is even more severe in RF
systems as tey exhibit lower yield ta digital systems due to te
interdependent ad complex natue of several specifcations. In [5],
[6], autors present SelHealing Systems tat ca uderstad te
process comer of te maufactured devices using sophisticated tests
ad ten tues te failing devices in post maufactue tuing phase
to bring ten within predefned specifcation boud ad hence
increase yield. For example, due to maufactung vaiation, te
gain of a device is low but te lineaity is acceptable. H is desirable
to have a tuing knob tat ca only tue for gain witout afecting
lineaity wit minimum power overhead. Hence, these process
adaptive systems also require built in orthogonal tunabilit in te
RF font end circuits to recover yield loss.
Most of te traditional RF circuits ae static or minimally
tuable using some digital controllability. For example, hig power,
low power ad shut dow modes ae available in some
commercially available trasceivers. If available, te tuning kobs
afect diferent specifcations in a interdependent maner. This is
not enoug for optimal operation of complete self-awae self
adaptive systems. Also fture radios will integate more ad more
fnctionalities in a single chip. Hence integation of te RF
components wit digital circuits is of utmost importace. In tis
paper we demonstrate te design ad benefts of ortogonal tuing
knobs using a inductorless LNA as a test vehicle, which will
facilitate easy integation.
The rest of te paper is orgaized as follows. Section H presets
the design of ad inductorless LNA. Section U describes how this
desig ca be modifed to achieve ortogonal tunability. Section
presents te results ad benefts obtained troug tis desig.
Conclusions ae presented in Section V.
A. Design Criteria
II. INDUCTORLESS LNA
In this paper we concentate on inductorless desigs for easy
integation with digital ad increased scalability. Futue multi-mode
ad multi-stadad SDRs require the LNAs to work over a several
fequency bads. To achieve tis by tued LNAs several LC tued
loads ad input matches ae required leading to high aea. It also
requires switching between tese tued circuits for diterent modes.
Inductorless LNAs [7], [8], [9], [10], [11] exhibit te beneft of
being widebad, very compact ad only one circuit ca cover all te
required bads. Also tade-of of power vs. performace is better in
inductorless desigs as te specifcations ae controlled more by te
trasistors ta lumped elements.
Traditional LNA designs wit inductors exhibit hig gain ad
selectivity by using LC tued gain peaking in a certain narow
bad. H is hader to achieve simila gain witout a inductor at te
same fequency over a wide badwidt in inductorless LNAs. Also
traditionally inductorless LNAs exhibit very high noise fgue. In
this paper, we demonstrate a two stage inductorless desig that
achieves sufcient gain, good input matching, noise fgures
compaable to tued desigs ad exhibits extended power vs.
performace tade-of. The desiged LNA covers te DVB-H bad,
the J white space ad GSM bad.
Figure 1: Iductorless two stage LNA
D. Two Sage Design
The simplifed schematic of te inductorless LNA is shown in
Figue 1. Te input stage provides input matching to son ad high
voltage gain. Te 2
n
d stage or outut stage provides hig curent
drive capability into low load impedace (SOn). This stage ca be
optimized diferently if te LNA is diving a mixer with higer
input impedace.
The input stage is built using one PMOS ad one NMOS gm
trasistors wit te drains connected togeter. H
p
rovides hig
voltage gain while driving high impedace of te 2
n
stage. It also
prvides a broadbad son input match using negative feedback
throug K_. Te value of K_, is optimized to maximize gain
(S21), minimize Noise Figue (NF) ad reduce input ret loss
(Sll). This stage is self-biased toug te NMOS, PMOS ad
K_,. The hig voltage gain provided by te input stage is
converted to power gain by te source follower outut stage. Te
common dain NMOS is biase using two hig biasing resistaces
Kg_ ad Kg_ ad is AC coupled wit te input stage using
coupling cap L. The outut stage, biased using NMOS curent
miror, is optimized for Outut 3rd order Intercept Point (OI3) wit
minimum power possible.
In [7], te autors present a two stage noise cacelling LNA. In
[10], te autors increase te gain of te LNA over a wide
fequency rage by introducing a extra stage ta tat of [7]. In
this paper we concentrate on minimizing te number of tasistors
in te LNA to reduce ^. Te frst stage is desiged to have very
hig voltage gain to reduce te overall NF, allowing better ^ ta
compaable desigs as shown in te next subsection.
C Results

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Figure 2: Noise Figure and S-parameters of the desiged LNA
286
The LNA shown in Figure 1 is desiged using National
Semiconductor 0.18! process (CMOS9T5V) wit 1.8V of supply
voltage. The S-paameters ad te ^ of te designed LNA is
shown in Figue 2 fom 10Mz to 10GHz rage. Te 3dB
badwidt extends fom 70 MHz to 1.5 GHz. At 1 GHz te LNA
provides 15. 3 dB power gain, -12.8 d Sll wit a very low ^ of
1. 88 dB. H consumes l2.6mA curent, among which 9mA is
consumed in te input stage as it provides simultaeously widebad
son input match ad high voltage gain to reduce ^. The curent
consumption includes te bufer (2n stage). Te performace of
this LNA is compaed with state of te m LNAs foud in literature
in Table 1, showing it is compaable in term of OI3, ad perform
better in term of gain ad ^. Now tis static LNA desig would
be extended to work as a ortogonally tuable LNA in te next
section. Tese results show tat te base LNA desig is compaable
to te state of te m inductorless LNA designs.
TALE I. COMARISON WITH EXSTING INUCTORLESS LNA
Tmw0rk
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7
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[10] [11]
Technolog 0.18g O.25 O.13 O.18
S21 (dB) 15.J 13.7 11 9.8
N(dB) 1.88 2 3.6 2.3
Sl1(dB) -1Z.8 -12 -5.3 -9
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(w/o bufer)
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BW(z) 70M-1.5L 2M-1.6G 2G-9.6G
III. DESIGN OF ORTHOONAL TNING KNOBS
A. Speciactions to be orthogonally tuned
-7
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The most importat specifcations for a LNA ae power Gain
(S21), ^, Outut 3rd Order intercept Point (OI3) ad Input Match
(S 11). When input sigal strength is moderate wit strong
interferers present, a higly linea receiver (hig OI3) is required;
however gain ad ^ ca be relaxed. Hig gain ad low ^ is
needed for a weak input sigal to provide high sensitivity. When te
input signal stengt is hig low gain ad higer ^ would sufce.
Hence it is to be noted tat Gain ad ^ requirements go togeter
ad does not exhibit ay contradiction. In tis work, we concentrate
on a ortogonal tuability between OI3 vs. Gain ad ^, while
having acceptable S 11.
First we develop tuability of OI3 ad ten Gain in the
following subsections. The specifcations reported ae at 1 GHz.
D. LJ Tuning
The LNA of Figue 1 is to be modifed for OI3 tuability. One
option to tadeof OI3 for power would be to reduce supply
voltage. However, supply voltage reduction is not recommended as
the efciency of te power maagement uit reduces wit reduced
outut voltage, maing the power savings minimal. This also results
in S2l degadation maing te adaptation non-ortogonal. In te
desig of Figure 1, te OI3 is dominated by te output souce
follower bufer stage as the sigal levels are low enough in the J``
stage not to get compressed and afect linearit of te composite
LNA, i.e. te power required in te 1 stage for reasonable gain ad
^ already provides hig enoug OI3 for tis stage. Hence the
most efective OI3 tuability ca be achieved by controlling te
tail curent of the source follower 2
n
d stage. Tis is done by
applying a controllable bias VI3. The result of lineaity tuability is
shown in Fige 3a in term of OI3. H exhibits tuability fom 5
dBm to -25 dBm as curent consumption in tat stage reduces fom
close to 9mA to 0.7mA. The gain stays relatively fat with VI3, as
shown in Figue 6d for most of te tuing rage (VI3>0.55 V).
C Gain and NF Tuning
Most of te Gain ad ^ is contolled by te input stage. The
1 stage does not afect te OI3 until the curent is very small.
Hence tuing of Gain ad ^ is performed using a curent souce
control in te input stage. However, te original desig being se1f
biased, tere is no controllability. H tis subsection we evaluate the
possible gain control options. The LNA is maintained in super
threshold while adaptation to enable hig fequency gain. Also
supply voltage contol is ruled out due to reasons described ealier.
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Figure 3: a) DI3 tuning b )Possible Gain ad Ntuning kob choices
I0$$blcmnn0gh0n$:
There ae four possible places to insert a curent contoller in
the input stage as shown in Figure 3b. Ipl ad I
n
l represent a PMOS
ad NMOS tail curent source respectively. Similaly, Ip2 ad In ae
cascoded PMOS ad NMOS curent souces. Te efect of inserting
curent contol knob at tese places ae evaluated by looking at te
^, Gain, Sll ad curent consumption for each curent source
control. A tuable voltage (V Gam) is applied to control te curent of
these curent souces. For PMOS control te voltage vaies between
o V ad 1. 3 V, whereas for NMOS contol tis voltage vaies fom
0. 5 V to 1.8V. It should be noted tat te PMOS ad NMOS
sources exhibits maimum current for 0 ad 1. 8 V respectively.
The perfoIce wit te tuing kobs in four possible
positions namely PMOS tail (Ipl), PMOS cascode (Ip2), NMOS tail
(I
n
l) ad NMOS cascode (In) ae shown in Figue 4. Te tail
sourc

s (bot NMOS ad PMOS) degenerate te gm trasistors

resultmg in a reduced gain in te high current region. It also
exhibits a lower dyamic rage for power vs. performace tradeof.
The cascode sources provide better S 11 ad ^ at hig curent
regime maing it a better choice over tail curent sources. Among
NMOS ad PMOS, te PMOS cascode source exhibits less ^ for
same curent values (see V Ga=0.8). Hence we choose te PMOS
cascode curent source as the tuing kob for gain tuning.
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Figure 4: Performance comparsison for diferent gain contol kobs
287
Figure 5: a) Schematic b) Layout of orthogonally tunable LNA
IV. RSULTS
The schematic ad layout of ortogonally tuable LNA wit
gain ad lineaity tuing kobs ae shown in Figure 5a ad Figue
5b, respectively. The desig has been implemented in 0.181
CMOS9t5v process. V Ga ad VHP3 provide independent control of
Gain ad OI3 wit power. H a fll chip implementation
incororating tis tuable LNA the voltage contols could be
replaced wit digitally controlled curent DACs, but te concept
remains te same. H tis Section we present te results of te
desiged LNA.
A. Orthogonal Tunabilit
Figue 6b shows te total curent consumption wit both te
tuing kobs. H ca be seen tat total curent ca be taded of fom
18.5mA to 0.76mA in a very gradual maner. Fige 6c shows te
^ tuability. H chages by 6-8 dB wit V @ whereas remains
relatively constat wit VI3. Figure 6a shows how Sll chages
over te tuing rage. It remains within a acceptable rage -5db)
for most of te tuing rage (V Ga '1 V).
Figue 6d shows te gain contollability wit two tuing knobs.
Gain exhibits a gradual degradation of 14 dB (17.7 dB to 3. 6 dB @
V I3= 1. 2) wit V Ga. Gain does not chage much wit V I3 for
VI3>O.55. For lower values the source follower exhibits a hig loss
resulting in reduction of S21. But for VI3>0.55 te LNA ca be
tued ortogonally as desired. Figure 6e shows te OI3 tuability.
The OI3 is relatively constat with V Ga while exhibiting a
gradual degradation of 30 dB (5 dBm to -25 dBm) wit VHP3
'
Hence te desiged LNA ca be ortogonally tued for a 14 dB
gain control rage ad 30 dB lineaity control rage. This tuability
allows this LNA to deliver just te required amout of perfoIce
uder ay chanel or process vaiation ad save power.
D. Benefts of Orthogonal Tunabilit
Gain ad OI3 tuability ca also be achieved in traditional
desigs using supply voltage control. Figure 7 plots te Gain ad
OI3 of a simple LNA vs. its total curent consumption as its
supply voltage is reduced. It also shows te gain ad OI3 of the
desiged orthogonally tunable LNA (contolled using V Gam) for
simila curent consumption. Let us consider te following
situation: tere is high interfereslblockers preset in te chanel
along wit a moderate received signal stengt. Tis requires a low
gain but high OI3 in te receiver. If te static LNA is used it
provides hig gain, high OI3 resulting in more power consumption
tha required. If te simple LNA (Figure 1) is used to reduce te
gain to save power OIP3 also reduces, resulting in very low power
savings. However, wit te proposed orthogonally tunable LNA te
OI3 remains constat as gain is reduced to save power
(12mA--5mA). Simila savings ae achieved while self-healing if a
process skewed device has hig gain but low OI3 ad it needs to
be self-healed for lineaity witout afecting gain, with minimum
power overhea. Healing using a simple LNA would mea
increasing bot gain ad OI3 leading to sub-optimal power
consumption.
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Figure 6: a) Variation of SII wmtuning kobs, Ortogonal Tunability in b) Total cur ent c) Nd) S21(gain) e) OI3(linearity)
Efectiveness of Tunability
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-Gain Orthogonally Tunable LNA -?
-Gain Simple LNA
-10
-.OIP3 Orthogonally Tunable LNA
OlP3 simple LNA
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Figure 7: Efectiveness of Ortogonal Tunability
V. CONCLUSION P FUTURE WORK
This paper discusses the design of a LNA whose specifcations
ca be taded of for power independently of each other.
inductorless LNA, compaable to the state of te m is designed ad
ortogonal tuing kobs ae introduced for independent adaptation
for gain ad lineaity. The proposed LNA, desiged in 0.18/
LNLb achieves a 14 dB Gain ad 30 dB LH3 tuing rage as its
power consumption goes dow by 20x. H ftue, tis LNA ad
simila K font end components W be used in adaptive receivers
that ca adapt to chanel conditions as well as maufactung
process vaiations to ensure power optimal tuing. Tis work
presents te requirement ad benefts of ortogonally tuable
circuits ad uses a inductorless LNA as a vehicle to demonstrate
the concept. Te tuing kobs will vary fom circuit to circuit, but
the concept presented here remains te same. H ftue, similar built
in tuing kobs will be implemented in mixer, VGA, PL etc. that
allow independent tuing of their respective importt
specifcations for power.
288
[I]
[2]
[3]
[4]
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