A 23.5–46 GHz Low Power VGLNA with 3 dB NF and 24 dB Gain Tuning Range in 28 nm Bulk CMOS

This article presents a wideband low power variable gain low noise amplifier (VGLNA) for 5G millimeter-wave applications. A gate-source transformer-feedback technique is used in the input matching network to simultaneously match S<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">11</inf> and noise. A 24 dB gain tuning range with 6 dB per step has been designed to accommodate different input power level. Designed in TSMC 28-nm bulk CMOS process, the VGLNA realized a peak gain of 23.2 dB within a 3-dB bandwidth from 23.5 to 46 GHz. The simulated NF is 2.8–3 dB at the highest gain state. Moreover, with gain reduced by 24 dB, the input 1 dB gain compression point (IP1dB) can be enhanced from −18.7 to 9 dBm. The max DC power consumption is only 13.3 mW. This design is suitable for wideband 5G millimeter-wave communication.