Very high frequency CMOS OTA-C quadrature oscillators

An approach to the design of high-frequency monolithic voltage-controlled oscillators using operational transconductance amplifiers and capacitors is given. Results from two 3 μm CMOS prototypes are presented. Both frequency and amplitude of the oscillations can be tuned by means of control voltages. Programmable oscillator frequencies up to 56.1 MHz are obtained, and the amplitudes are adjustable between 1 V peak-to-peak and 100 mV peak-to-peak. Total harmonic distortions from 2.8% down to 0.2% were experimentally measured.