Compact composite noise-reduction LNA for UWB WPAN and WBAN applications

Abstract

An ultra-wideband (UWB) low-noise amplifier (LNA) implemented using 180nm complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor technology is presented for wireless personal area network (WPAN) and wireless body area network (WBAN). Increasing the resistance of the substrate resistor R-B reduces the noise factor. When additional substrate resistors and a composite feedback topology are employed, the proposed LNA can achieve both a 1.4dB reduction of the noise figure (NF) and a 4dB enhancement in power gain (PG). Over the operating frequency range from 3.1 to 4.8GHz, the LNA achieves a maximum PG of 14.5dB, a minimum NF of 1.5dB, and an input return loss of <10dB. The measured current consumption is 3mA with a 1.5V supply voltage. The active chip area is 0.008mm(2). The proposed 3.1-4.8GHz LNA has a superior NF, smaller active area, and the lowest dc power consumption compared with devices reported in the literature.