Above-IC inductors enable low-power RF circuit design, and in addition efficiently protect the RF pins against electrostatic discharge (ESD) stress. This is demonstrated using above-IC inductors in the design of a fully integrated 5 GHz ESD-protected LNA and VCO in 90 nm CMOS. The LNA without ESD protection shows 1.4 dB NF, with 18 dB gain, drawing 4 mA from a 1.2 V supply. The ESD protected LNA has a 2.2 dB NF and 17.6 dB gain while sustaining human body model (HBM) ESD stress of above 8 kV. The 5.4 GHz VCO has a current consumption of 150 muA with a 1.2 V supply, and a 10 % tuning range with a worst case phase noise of -111 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset
['Dimitri Linten', 'Xiao Sun', 'Steven Thijs', 'M.I. Natarajan', 'A. Mercha', 'Geert Carchon', 'Piet Wambacq', 'T. Nakaie', 'Stefaan Decoutere']
Low-power low-noise highly ESD robust LNA, and VCO design using above-IC inductors