Design of Low Noise Amplifier for WCDMA Reception Range (2.11 GHz 2.17 GHz)

Abstract

As the demand for 3G wireless network access is increasing so does the need for high performance Wide Band Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) transceivers. One of the key components of the WCDMA transceiver is the Low-Noise Amplifier (LNA). In this report, the design of a LNA to meet specifications is explained. The circuit was built using the BSIM3V2 model (Level 49) UMC CMOS 0.18μm technology along with Cadence Virtuoso as CAD tool. The Concepts of RF IC design needed for the design of a Low Noise Amplifier such as nonlinearity, noise, skin effect, design of passive components is discussed in the report. The understanding of these concepts is being applied to design a single ended and differential Low Noise Amplifier. With the LNA designed, the physical layout of the amplifier was performed using Cadence Assura. The layout/Physical design of LNA has been done so as to get the best possible matching with the actual fabricated circuit. The design of the LNA for WCDMA reception range (2.11 GHz – 2.17 GHz) was simulated in Cadence to verify its performance. Single ended LNA is also successfully simulated for different corner conditions. From corner analysis the worst case power dissipation is found to be 8.703 mW and best one is 6.0912 mW. Similarly the worst case noise figure is 4.495 dB and best one is 3.247 dB. Variations found in center frequency is 1.4%