Variable Gain Amplifier (VGA) in CMOS

[Puppet1]

Looking for good book, tutorial, papers on Variable Gain Amplifier (VGA) in CMOS for wireless applications.

Many references on bipolar not many on CMOS.

 

[rfsystem]

Try to convert simply the NPN to MOS. A MOS operated in the subthreshold behaves similar to a bipolar. But matching, frequency performance and area gets worse.

But who of the upper level deciders care about implementation issues of analog in worse digital CMOS.

 

[Puppet1]

so are you saying operate the other blocks (lna, mixer etc) in moderate inversion, while operating the vga in weak inversion (subthreshold) ?

 

[rfsystem]

I suppose that the VGA is operating in the IF domain. There the reduced frequency performance of MOS versus bipolar does not impact the circuit specs. So if you have an VGA circuit try to translate them into MOS.

Could you make a print of the circuit in mind?

 

[Chethan]

Papers you can refer for VGA.

1)CMOS low-distortion high-frequency variable-gain amplifier
Rijns, J.J.F.;
Solid-State Circuits, IEEE Journal of
Volume 31, Issue 7, July 1996 Page(s):1029 - 1034
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/4.508217

2)A temperature-stable CMOS variable-gain amplifier with 80-dB linearly controlled gain range
Yamaji, T.; Kanou, N.; Itakura, T.;
Solid-State Circuits, IEEE Journal of
Volume 37, Issue 5, May 2002 Page(s):553 - 558
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/4.997847

3)CMOS current-mode exponential-control variable-gain amplifier
Chang, C.-C.; Lin, M.-L.; Liu, S.-I.;
Electronics Letters
Volume 37, Issue 14, 5 July 2001 Page(s):868 - 869
Digital Object Identifier 10.1049/el:20010593

4)Wideband 70dB CMOS digital variable gain amplifier design for DVB-T receiver's AGC
Chua-Chin Wang; Ching-Li Lee; Li-Ping Lin; Yih-Long Tseng;
Circuits and Systems, 2005. ISCAS 2005. IEEE International Symposium on
23-26 May 2005 Page(s):356 - 359 Vol. 1
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/ISCAS.2005.1464598

5)Wideband high dynamic range CMOS variable gain amplifier for low voltage and low power wireless applications
Kwon, J.K.; Kim, K.D.; Song, W.C.; Cho, G.H.;
Electronics Letters
Volume 39, Issue 10, 15 May 2003 Page(s):759 - 760
Digital Object Identifier 10.1049/el:20030516

6)A CMOS Variable Gain Amplifier with Wide Dynamic Range and Accurate dB-Linear Characteristic
Ji-Hun Kim; Chang-Seok Chae; Young-Jin Woo; Gyu-Hyeong Cho;
Advanced Communication Technology, 2006. ICACT 2006. The 8th International Conference
Volume 1, 20-22 Feb. 2006 Page(s):831 - 835

7) Design of a 1.8 V high frequency CMOS variable gain amplifier with a novel dB-linear gain structure
Wei Hu; Seunghyun Song; Bongryul Choi; Jae-Whui Kim;
Circuits and Systems, 2004. MWSCAS '04. The 2004 47th Midwest Symposium on
Volume 1, 25-28 July 2004 Page(s):I - 125-8 vol.1
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MWSCAS.2004.1353913

8) A 50 dB variable gain amplifier using parasitic bipolar transistors in CMOS
Pan, T.-W.; Abidi, A.A.;
Solid-State Circuits, IEEE Journal of
Volume 24, Issue 4, Aug. 1989 Page(s):951 - 961
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/4.34077

 

[rfsystem]

Seam to worth the effort to look at the journals but take a little bit for judgement about the portability Bipolar -> CMOS