Monolithic Low Power RFIC Amplifiers for Multimode Wireless Communication Applications

This paper deals with the design consideration and performance results for low power low noise self-matched as well as an inductivematched SiGe amplifier developed for the GSM/DCS/WCDMA multi-band cellular systems. The self-matched amplifier is based on the current reuse concept, and accommodates an active balun. On the other hand, the inductive-matched amplifier is a single-stage common emitter circuit with inductive on-chip matching. Both amplifiers have internal bias circuits. These amplifiers consume 5.0mA and 6.0mA at 3V to respectively provide a power gain of higher than 18dB and 13dB, a noise figure lower than 4dB, and an IIP3 higher than –16dBm and -4dBm, over 0.9-2.2GHz. With such a low current consumption, the developed amplifiers can be a candidate for lowpower multimode mobile terminal applications.