In this paper, a mask programmable arraybased
design methodology is used for the first time to
implement a 10 GHz LC oscillator in a SiGe bipolar
technology. The array used was not optimised prior to this
design for the development of such circuits, and is used to
highlight some of the restrictions faced by the designer
when adopting an array-based approach. 10 GHz operation
is demonstrated with a phase noise of –85.5 dBc/Hz @
1MHz on first pass silicon. Whilst this performance is
inferior to a full custom LC solution, the array-based design
exceeds significantly the performance levels obtainable from
a ring oscillator implemented using full custom techniques
which meets the SONET jitter specifications. Detailed
analysis of the various phase noise contributions to the 10
GHz LC oscillator show that the performance is not
prohibitively compromised by the array-based design
approach. Together with the improved time-to-market
resulting from an array-based approach, this work makes a
compelling case for the viability and adoption of arraybased
design methodologies for a wide range of RF and
microwave applications
