This work presents the design procedure followed to obtain a low-power voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) robust against high-frequency substrate noise, using as a demonstrator a 2.5 GHz VCO with quadrature outputs (QVCO) based on a 5-GHz LC tank resonant VCO (LC-VCO) and frequency divider. A simple, intuitive, and easy to handle analytical model is proposed to identify the design parameters that contribute to the performance degradation of LC-VCOs due to the effect of high frequency substrate noise. The guidelines obtained have been applied in the design of the low-power QVCO. Finally, the work discusses several trade-offs that can be used to maximize the immunity of a LC-VCO against substrate noise.

Peer Reviewed