Finger-Regulated Simultaneous Noise and Input Matching (FRSNIM) Guided CMOS LNA

The multi-finger architecture has been widely explored in submicron CMOS circuits because it caters to improved device performance compared to its mono-finger counterparts. However, setting appropriate finger variables, including finger width and number of fingers, to boost the circuit's performance is a cumbersome task. The objective of this work is to develop a finger-regulated simultaneous noise and input matching (FRSNIM) methodology for microwave front-ends. It is driven by the concept of impedance engineering of source referred noise impedances <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$(Z_{opt})$</tex> to realize a theoretical optimization exploiting Keysight's Advanced Design System (ADS) platform and the 180 nm standard CMOS process. As part of the proposed FRSNIM approach, a protocol for setting up optimum bias points is outlined through the assessment of radio frequency benchmarks. The proposed FRSNIM mechanism takes into account the parasitics associated with the bond pad and bond wire to model the influence of the packaged parasitic on scattering port parameters. Exploiting the proposed FRSNIM scheme, a low noise amplifier (LNA) is devised, which furnishes a 16.7 <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\mathbf{dB}$</tex> forward gain and a 1.4 <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\mathbf{dB}$</tex> noise figure at 2.4 GHz while consuming only 6.6 <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\text{mW}$</tex> of power from a 1.8 V supply voltage. The input-referred third-order intercept point (IIP3), defining the linearity of the LNA, is <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$-7\text{dBm}$</tex>. It occupies an area of <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$470\times 337\mu m^{2}$</tex>.