Complementary LNA Circuit for Low-Power Wireless Signal Gain
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional low noise amplifiers (LNAs) in wireless receivers consume substantial power and occupy valuable real estate to achieve high gain and low noise figure, making them unsuitable for power-efficient and compact designs in applications like Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Energy devices.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a low noise amplifier circuit using either a complementary common-gate or complementary cross-coupled capacitor design, which boosts effective transconductance to amplify signals efficiently while maintaining low power consumption and minimizing noise figure, allowing for reduced area usage on integrated circuits.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional LNA designs are used to achieve high gain and low noise figure, then signal amplification quality is improved, but power consumption increases substantially
Solution Approach 1:
The LNA is divided into two parallel paths: a first path with a first LNA stage providing gain, and a second path with a second LNA stage providing additional gain. This segmentation allows the signal to be amplified through multiple lower-power stages rather than a single high-power stage, reducing overall power consumption while maintaining high gain and low noise figure performance.
2Reliability
If conventional LNA designs are used to achieve high gain and low noise figure, then signal amplification quality is improved, but area occupied on integrated circuit increases
Solution Approach 1:
The first and second LNA stages are coupled in parallel between the same input and intermediate nodes, merging their functions into a compact configuration. This merging allows both stages to share common circuit elements and space, reducing the total area occupied on the integrated circuit while maintaining the high gain and low noise figure performance through the combined amplification effect.
3Reliability
If LNA power gain is increased to improve signal-to-noise ratio, then noise figure is reduced, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The total power gain requirement is segmented across two LNA stages operating in parallel. Each stage operates at a lower power consumption level individually, but their combined effect achieves the required high signal-to-noise ratio and low noise figure without the excessive power consumption of a single high-gain stage.
Data Source
AI summary
A low noise amplifier (LNA) includes a pair of n-type transistors, each configured to provide a first transconductance; a pair of p-type transistors, each configured to provide a second transconductance; a first pair of coupling capacitors, cross-coupled between the pair of n-type transistors, and configured to provide a first boosting coefficient to the first transconductance; and a second pair of coupling capacitors, cross-coupled between the pair of p-type transistors, and configured to provide a second boosting coefficient to the second transconductance, wherein the LNA is configured to use a boosted effective transconductance based on the first and second boosting coefficients, and the first and second transconductances to amplify an input signal.