Ahmadi-Mehr, S. Amir-RezaS. Amir-RezaAhmadi-MehrTohidian, MassoudMassoudTohidianStaszewski, Robert BogdanRobert BogdanStaszewski2017-04-182017-04-182016 IEEE2016-03-11IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papershttp://hdl.handle.net/10197/8432In this paper, we exploit an idea of coupling multiple oscillators to reduce phase noise (PN) to beyond the limit of what has been practically achievable so far in a bulk CMOS technology. We then apply it to demonstrate for the first time an RF oscillator that meets the most stringent PN requirements of cellular basestation receivers while abiding by the process technology reliability rules. The oscillator is realized in digital 65-nm CMOS as a dualcore LC-tank oscillator based on a high-swing class-C topology. It is tunable within 4.07-4.91 GHz, while drawing 39-59 mA from a 2.15 V power supply. The measured PN is -146.7 dBc/Hz and -163.1 dBc/Hz at 3 MHz and 20 MHz offset, respectively, from a 4.07 GHz carrier, which makes it the lowest reported normalized PN of an integrated CMOS oscillator. Straightforward expressions for PN and interconnect resistance between the cores are derived and verified against circuit simulations and measurements. Analysis and simulations show that the interconnect resistance is not critical even with a 1% mismatch between the cores. This approach can be extended to a higher number of cores and achieve an arbitrary reduction in PN at the cost of the power and area.en© 2016 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.LC-tankPhase noiseBasestation (BTS)Class-C oscillatorCoupled oscillatorsFigure of merit (FoM)Journal Article63452953910.1109/TCSI.2016.25292182017-03-17https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ie/