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Objective

To design a low power Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) for applications


in bluetooth standard v4.1 receiver front-end in 180-nm RF CMOS
process.

Introduction
Bluetooth is wireless technology used for data transfer within
small range. The main objective of this technique is to remove wired
communication or wired data transfer with low power consumption
and low cost.
Low noise amplifiers are one of the basic building blocks of
any communication system. The purpose of the LNA is to
amplify the received signal to acceptable levels without adding
noise thus preserving required signal to noise ratio at extremely
low power level.

Background
An LNA design presents a considerable challenge because of its
simultaneous requirement for high gain, low noise figure, good input
and output matching and unconditional stability at the lowest
possible current draw from the amplifier.

The performance of LNA depends on many variables including both


device level and board level variables.

Commonsource, commongate, and cascode are three prevailing


LNA topologies. Table given below provides a concise comparison
based on the most relevant considerations for LNA design.
Table 1: Comparison of Three LNA Topologies

The cascade amplifier is the most versatile of the three


topologies. It provides the most stable signal gain over the widest
bandwidth with only a slight sacrifice in noise figure performance
and design complexity.
The commonsource transistor is sized to deliver the best
possible noise figure, but that advantage often comes at the cost
of greater sensitivity to bias, temperature, and component
tolerances.
Common gate amplifier is very good topology for linearity, but
noise figure is big issue.

Comparison Table of Specifications for different papers on


bluetooth applications :

1.1
1.2
2.
3.
4.
5.

Our Approach
Our final goal is to design a LNA for low power, high gain, low
noise figure, good input and output matching and unconditional
stability at the lowest possible current draw from the amplifier.
Based on the specifications of Bluetooth and different trade offs
involved in the design of LNA we can say that common gate LNA
topology is very good for linearity but we have to compromise with
the noise figure. Similarly common source topology is very good for
low noise figure but it is highly sensitive to external factors. Cascoding
is good one but requires somewhat high power.
Based on comparison table and literature survey our approach will
be to design a LNA that can provide optimally high gain, low power
consumption, high linearity, low noise figure, and good input and
output matching .
We tentatively wants to use common source inductively
degenerated or cacoded common source LNA for the design as they
have somewhat good specifications as given in table 1.

Deliverables :
Our final goal
1.
Freeze to specifications.
2.
Schematic Simulations.
3.
Layout and post layout simulation.
4.
Fabrication (optional).
5.
Report.

References:
1. Comparison of different CMOS low-noise amplifiers topologies for
bluetoothapplications
Khan, M.Z. ; YanjieWang ; Rant, R.
Wireless and Microwave Technology, 2005. WAMICON 2005. The 2005
IEEE Annual Conference
Publication Year: 2005
2. A 1.5-V 2.4 GHz Differential CMOS Low Noise Amplifier for
Bluetooth and Wireless LAN Applications
Alam, S.K. ; DeGroat, J.
Circuits and Systems
Publication Year: 2006
3. A low power LNA for bluetoothlow energy application with
consideration of process and mismatch
Lei Liao ; Kaehlert, S. ; YifanWang ; Atac, A. ; Ye Zhang ; Schleyer, M. ;
Wunderlich, R. ; Heinen, S.
Microwave Conference Proceedings (APMC), 2012 Asia-Pacific
Publication Year: 2012
4. A high gain fully integrated CMOS LNA for WLAN and Bluetooth
application
LaichunYang ; YuexingYan ; YiqiangZhao ; JianguoMa ; GuoxuanQin
Electron Devices and Solid-State Circuits (EDSSC)
Publication Year: 2013
5. A low power low noise CMOS amplifier for Bluetooth applications
Nadia, A. ; Belgacem, H. ; Aymen, F.
Applied Electronics (AE)
Publication Year: 2013

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