A fully integrated VCO with a wide tuning range for DVB-H

Abstract

This article presents a fully integrated LC VCO in a low cost 0.35 μm BiCMOS technology for DVB‐H standard. The VCO was designed for a direct conversion receiver architecture. To facilitate the integration of inductors and capacitors, the circuit oscillates at twice the required UHF frequency. Techniques like emitter degeneration, capacitor divider, and optimum bias and tank design have been used to improve phase noise requirements. The obtained phase noise is −112 dBc/Hz at 100 kHz offset and the tuning range is 47.6%.