Hawassa University

Institute of Technology
Faculty of Electrical and Biomedical Engineering
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Communication Engineering Stream

Project Title: Low Noise Microwave Amplifier Design

SUBMITTED BY ID No

1.Biniyam Yoseph 0434/08

2.Deribe Dawit 0584/08

3.Andualem Alemayehu 0260/08

ADVISOR Fitsum Z.

Semester Project Submitted to the Department of Electrical and Computer

Engineering, Communication Engineering Stream

JULY, 2019

Hawassa,Ethiopia
 DECLARATION
Student’s Declaration

We Signature
1. Bimiyam Yoseph………………………….…………………..
2. Andualem Alemayehu………………………..………………..
3. Deribe Dawit……….………………….…………….…………

Hereby we declare that the work entitled Low noise microwave amplifier design by using
ADS software is our original work. We have not copied from any other student’s work or
from any other sources except where due reference or acknowledgement are made explicitly
in the text, nor has any part been written for us by another person.

Advisor Declaration
I Signature
Mr Fitsum Zerfu..……………………………………………………
Here by certifying that the work entitled Low noise microwave amplifier design by using
ADS software was prepared by the above named students, and was submitted to the institute
as a semester project and the aforementioned work, to the best of my knowledge, is the
mentioned student’s work.

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ABSTRACT
This paper presents a Low Noise Amplifier also known as LNA for any application in
wireless communication system. LNA is an electronic amplifier used to amplify a possible
very weak signal that captured by antenna. LNA is a very important part in RF receiver
because when using a LNA, noises can reduce the gain by the amplifier when the noise of the
amplifier is received directly from received signal. The low noise amplifier have designed to
get the better performance by following the requirement in this new era consists of high gain,
low noise figure, lower power consumption and good input and output matching. In this
paper we have designed and analyzed a low noise amplifier (LNA) at 3 GHZ frequency. This
proposed amplifier uses GaAs FET transistor which has low noise and was a high electron
mobility transistor, and also provides good input and output matching. The design simulation
was done using Advance Design Simulation (ADS) software.
Keywords : Low Noise Amplifier, Radio Frequency, Noise Figure, Gain, impedance
matching

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 Acknowledgment
With all praises to the almighty and by His blessings we have finally completed this project.
We would like to express our gratitude to Mr. Fitsum zerfu who has graciously provided us
his valuable time whenever we required his assistance. His counseling, supervision and
suggestions were always encouraging and it motivated us to complete the job at hand. He will
always be regarded as a great mentor for us.

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 Table of Contents
List of Abbreviations ........................................................................................................................................ 1
List of symbols ................................................................................................................................................. 2
LIST OF FIGURE ................................................................................................................................................. 3
LIST OF TABLE ............................................................................................................................................. 3
CHAPTER ONE............................................................................................................................................. 4
INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................... 4
1.1 Background............................................................................................................................................. 4
1.2 Amplifier Theory .................................................................................................................................... 4
1.3 Low Noise Amplifier .............................................................................................................................. 5
1.4 Statement of Problem ............................................................................................................................. 6
1.5 Objectives............................................................................................................................................... 6
1.5.1 General objectives ............................................................................................................................ 6
1.5.2 Specific objective ............................................................................................................................. 6
1.6 Project Scope ......................................................................................................................................... 6
1.7 Literature Review.................................................................................................................................... 7
CHAPTER TWO............................................................................................................................................ 8
LNA FUNDAMENTALS ............................................................................................................................... 8
2.1 Network Analysis ................................................................................................................................... 8
2.1.1 Two-Port Network............................................................................................................................ 8
2.1.2 S-Parameter ..................................................................................................................................... 8
2.2 Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) Performance Parameters ............................................................................... 9
2.2.1 Noise Figure ..................................................................................................................................... 9
2.2.2 Input and Output Matching Networks ............................................................................................ 10
2.2.3 Gain ............................................................................................................................................... 11
2.2.4 Stability .......................................................................................................................................... 12
CHAPTER THREE ........................................................................................................................................ 13
DESIGN OF LNA .......................................................................................................................................... 14
3.1 Design Specification .............................................................................................................................. 14
3.2 Transistor Selection .............................................................................................................................. 15
3.2.1 Features ......................................................................................................................................... 15
3.2.2 Applications ................................................................................................................................... 15
3.3 LNA design ........................................................................................................................................... 16
3.4 Input and output impedance matching ................................................................................................. 17
3.4.1 Why matching? .............................................................................................................................. 17
3.4.2 When it get matched? .................................................................................................................... 17

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CHAPTER 4 ................................................................................................................................................. 19
RESULT AND DISCUSSION ...................................................................................................................... 19
4.1 Stability ................................................................................................................................................ 19
4.2 GAIN ................................................................................................................................................... 20
4.3 NOISE FIGURE ................................................................................................................................... 21
4.4 INPUT OUTPUT MATCHING ............................................................................................................ 21
4.5 SIMULATION RESULT ...................................................................................................................... 22
4.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 23
References ..................................................................................................................................................... 24
Appendixes .................................................................................................................................................... 25

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List of Abbreviations

ADS Advanced design system

GaAs Gallium Arsenide

IC Integrated circuits

RF Radio frequency

LNA Low noise amplifier

CMOS Complementary metal oxide semiconductor

IF Intermediate Frequency

CE Common Emitter

CB Common Base

CC Common Collector

IMN Input Matching Network

OMN Output Matching Network

SWR Signal Wave Ratio

RL Return Loss

GT Gain Transducer

GPS Global Positioning System

SNR Signal Noise Ratio

NF Noise Figure

MOS Metal Oxide Semiconductor

PMOS P-channel Metal Oxide Semiconductor

NMOS N-channel Metal Oxide Semiconductor

IMP Inter Modulation Product

WLL Wireless Local Loop

WLAN Wireless Local Area Network

RFID Radio Frequency Identification

List of symbols

GHZ Giga Hertz

T Temperature

Δf Bandwidth

gm Trans conductance

Si Silicon

dB Decibel

Ω Ohm

KΩ Kilo Ohm

Pf Pico Farad

nF Nano Farad

MHZ Mega Hertz

V Volt

mA Milli Ampere

2
 List of Figures

Figure 1.1 RF Receiver …………………………….....................................4

Figure. 2. 1 Two-port scattering network with source and load……………..8
Figure 2.2 Noise Figure of a System……………………………................10
Figure. 2.3. A general transistor amplifier circuit [1] ……………………. ..11
Figure 2.4 Fundamental Of Topologies LNA……………………………. 13
Figure 3.1 LNA schematic ……………………………………………......17
Figure 3.2 Total design using ads……………………………......................... 18
Figure 3.3 Input matching network……………………………................. 19
Figure 3.4 Output matching network……………………………................. 19
Figure.4.1 Schematic for stability test…………………………………….20
Figure. 4.2 Transistor stability test 1 ………………………………….. ..20
Figure. 4.3 Transistor stability test 2…………………………………….. .21
Figure 4.4 Simulation result of gain……………………………………. .21
Figure 4.5. Simulation result of Noise Figure…………………………….22
Figure 4.6 Simulation result of input and output impedance matching…23

List of Tables

Table 2.1 LNA Design Parameter and Specification………………………..13

Table 4.1 Comparison between different topologies………………………..15

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 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
The first active amplification component of a receiver is a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA). The
main function of LNA is to amplify the signal to suppress the noise of subsequent stages
while adding as little noise as possible. The performance of RF receiver is significantly
influenced by the LNA. Operating frequency also depends on the RF filter used in front of
LNA.

Figure 1.1: RF Receiver

Bipolar and GaAs used in earlier time for designing of LNA. They offer a good gain and low
noise figure, But they are expensive and cannot be integrated easily. As the new technology
evolved, we successfully researched the feasibility of the new CMOS technologies in RF
circuit designs. CMOS devices translated into low noise figure and higher gain. Latest CMOS
technologies showed to be a strong not only in terms of cost and integration, but also in terms
of high performance.
Inductive source generated low noise amplifier provide best noise performance and gain.
However, they operate in a narrow band of frequency. Inductive source degenerated low
noise amplifier has been presented in this thesis which can be tuned to the required frequency
of interest.

1.2 Amplifier Theory

There are three basic amplifier configurations for bipolar transistors:
1. The common-emitter (CE) amplifier

i. Has the affordable voltage gain, input and output impedance.

ii. It has from limited bandwidth.

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2. The common-base (CB) amplifier
i. Affordable output impedance and voltage gain as well as high bandwidth

ii. This input impedance tends to be fairly low (approximately 25 Ω at 1 mA.)

3. The common-collector (CC) amplifier

i. Has high bandwidth and sufficient input impedance
ii. Has a voltage gain of approximately 1

1.3 Low Noise Amplifier

Low noise amplifier is also known as LNA, a special type of electronic that widely used in
wireless communication system. A LNA can be found in RF transmitter and receiver for the
basic building block in communication system. Hereby, LNA is the most important part of
the receiver because it is placed at the front of the receiver and act as an amplifier to amplify
the received signals in order to works as an electronic amplifier. In order to get the level that
required for LNA to amplify the received signals of additional noise, the radio receiver
should have an amplifier, a mixer and a filter.
Nowadays, the wireless communication system field is a system that is very important in our
daily lives for example GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, RFID systems, satellite communications and
many more. Therefore, an LNA is a key component that significant in the RF transceiver
where the RF transceiver controls the efficiency of the whole system in communication. In
this new era, user demand increase in term of the requirement for better performance such as
high gain, low noise figure, lower power consumption, lesser weight, lower cost and smaller
chip area.

The low noise amplifier is the most straightforward microwave amplifier to understand due
the relative insignificance of nonlinear effects in the amplifier due to the low input power. It
is designed to take a very low level signal such as you would see at the end of a lossy
transmission medium and amplify it with minimal additive noise. It is critical to note that the
noise is amplified with the same gain as the signal, in addition to the additive noise. This
means that a low noise amplifier or any other amplifier cannot increase the signal to noise
ratio (SNR), it can only raise the power level of both the signal and the noise. If the gain is
narrowband, the amplifier may filter some out of band noise or signals, but it cannot improve
the signal to noise ratio due to the in-band noise.

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Furthermore, the main function of LNA is to amplify a very low signal. This amplify method
is with no additional noise is to maintain the required signal to noise ratio at very low power
level and for higher signal levels. The receiver, named as receiver sensitivity, can be received
by LNA when the amplification provides the first level of the requirement. By using this
LNA, noise can be reduced by manipulating the gain. The amplifier also can reduce the noise
only if the noise of the amplifier is injected directly into the received signal.

1.4 Statement of Problem

A low noise amplifier has been designed to present a considerable challenge because of its
simultaneous requirement. In any wireless communication there is undesired signal (Noise)
that interferes with the main signal to be processed, extra noise generated by the circuit(Noise
figure)is high and there is low gain and mismatched input and output impedance. Therefore,
LNA requires a design that has enhance High gain, Low noise figure and Good input and
output impedances.

1.5 Objectives
1.5.1 General objectives

The main aim of this project is to design and analyze the low noise microwave amplifier

1.5.2 Specific objective

In order to accomplish the overall objective of this project, the following are the specific
objectives:
1. To analyze noise figure
2. To design input output matching network
3. To draw the circuit diagram by using the ADS software.

1.6 Project Scope

The proposed project is limited to the following scopes:

1. To design a low noise amplifier and to analyze the circuit to achieve the requirements.

2. To draw the circuit diagram by using the ADS software.

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1.7 Literature Review
Different Low Noise Amplifier with various design techniques are listed below:
A noise parameter and third order inter modulation product (IMP) expressions is presented in
the paper [1] that provides input matching and power constrained noise at a same time for
designing a low noise amplifier optimization technique. These expressions explain the
methodology in designing a Low Noise Amplifier to record the power constrained noise and
input matching and also satisfying the condition of linearity. A positive feedback is used to
obtain a power gain. Here, fabrication is based on 0.18μm CMOS technology. This Low
Noise Amplifier shows result with the power gain of 20dB and the Noise figure of 1.5dB.

In the paper [2], a low noise amplifier designed using feedback containing shunt resistive is
introduced. Since most of the LNA makes use of series inductive feedback topology which
provides more gain and good noise figure characteristics. But this topology faces certain
drawbacks of producing the inductor value for the source degeneration which are crucial to
impedance matching (Zopt and Zin). As a result, inductors are designed inside the IC’s. This
causes the degradation of noise figure on simulation. Hence shunt resistive feedback topology
is used. This LNA, on implementing gives a gain of 12.4dB and a noise figure of 4.2dB.

The paper [3] provides an idea of designing a low power, high gain low noise amplifier
(LNA) design that involves current re-use inductors and a complementary MOS structure.
Forward body biasing technique is applied to the amplifying transistor to achieve the gain
variability. The current re-use inductors at the drain of the CMOS structure helps to share the
drain current between PMOS and NMOS. The width of amplifying transistor is chosen to
give minimum noise figure and good input matching. The circuit was designed using 90nm
CMOS process. The result showed that the gain obtained is 8.05dB with a low noise figure of
2.14dB. The supply voltage used in this LNA design is 1.1V resulting in a power
consumption of 2.607mW

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 CHAPTER TWO

LNA FUNDAMENTALS
2.1 Network Analysis
In this section, two-port network and S-parameter will be discussed briefly.
2.1.1 Two-Port Network

A two-port network is an electrical circuit which consists of four terminals to be connected

with other external network or circuit [7]. It is represented by four variables such as at the
input port voltage, V1 current, I1 and at the output port voltage, V2 and current, I2 [8].
Figure 2.1 shows a two-port network which has four terminals.

Figure. 2. 1 Two-port scattering network with source and load.

2.1.2 S-Parameter

Scattering parameters or S-parameters have significant role in RF system design. RF

engineers use S-parameter to define the relationship between input-output of an electrical
network in terms of incident and reflected power waves [10]. According to figure 2.1, an

incident normalized power wave, an and a reflected normalized power wave, bn .

The mathematical expression for incident and reflected normalized power wave can be
written as:

an = √
(Vn + ZoIn) (2.1)

bn = √
(Vn - ZoIn) (2.2)

Where,
n = Port 1or 2
Zo = Characteristics impedance of the connecting lines [10]

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Four waves such as a1, a2,b1 and b2 are related through following equations (3) and (4)
where s11,s21,s12and s22 are the S-parameters of the above network [10]

b1 = S11a1+S12a2 (2.3)
b2 = S21a1+S22a2 (2.4)

Combining equation (3) and (4), the matrix form is as follows:

⌊ ⌋= ⌊ ⌋⌊ ⌋

Where,
S11 = |a2=0 Input reflection coefficient

S22 = |a1=0 output reflection coefficient

S21= |a2=0 Forward voltage gain

S12 = |a1=0 Reversed voltage gain

For the LNA amplifier from design point of view, S11 and S22 denote the input and output
impedances matching. S21 measures the amplification gain of the amplifier and S12
represents the isolation between input and output ports.

2.2 Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) Performance Parameters

Major performance parameters of LNA are:

 Noise Figure
 Input and output matching networks
 Gain
 Stability

2.2.1 Noise Figure

Noise figure (NF) is one of the most important parameters to evaluate the radio performance
of communication system. It is a measurement of degradation of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)
between the input and output of the component [1]. When the network is noisy, the output
noise power is greater than the output signal power; this is how, output SNR will be
decreased because of high output noise power. Once the noise and desired signal are applied
to the input of a noiseless network, may be both the noise and signal will be amplified or
attenuated by the same degree, that’s why, SNR will not be changed [1].

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 S/N NF S/N

Figure 2.2: Noise Figure of a System

The noise figure (NF) can be calculated using the following mathematical equation: is given
by:

⁄
NF= ⁄
= (2.5)

NF(dB) =10 (2.6)

Where,
Si = Input signal power
Ni= Input noise power
So = Output signal power
No = Output noise power

SNRi and SNRo are the signal to noise ratio at the input and output of the component and
PNo is the total available power at the output of the amplifier, PNi is the available noise
power due to the input termination and GA is the Available Power Gain. An alternate method
for calculating the Noise Figure is expressed as

| |
NF= Fmin + (2.7)
| | | |

2.2.2 Input and Output Matching Networks

Matching networks is one of the important steps to design LNA. Impedance matching is used
to minimize the reflections and obtain an acceptable amount of noise figure and maximum
gain by making the load impedance equal to the source impedance .To get an optimal value
of input reflection coefficient, gain and noise figure (NF); input matching network is tuned
and for output reflection coefficient; output matching network (OMN) is tuned. The
following figure (2-3) shows a general transistor amplifier circuit where IMN and OMN are
designed with the transistor.

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 Figure. 2.3 A general transistor amplifier circuit [1]

Generally it is not possible to obtain both minimum noise figure and maximum gain for an
amplifier. So, some sort of compromise must be made. This can be done by using constant
gain circles and circle of constant noise figure to select a usable trade-off (check it from
book, trade off: up-down or compromise: linear) between noise figure and gain [1]. IMN and
OMN can be designed by lumped and distributed components. parameters are considered to
check the design of LNA such as gain (S21), noise figure (NF), stability and input reflection
coefficient (S11)
The reflection coefficient Ґ is a normalized measure of the relationship between source
impedance and load impedance. Input and output impedance matching is given by the input
and output return loss. Return loss (RL) is the relationship between the reflected power wave
at a port to incident power wave at the same port and A perfect match will have no reflection
and an SWR of 1.

Ґ= (2.8)

20 log Ґin= 20 log | S11 | (2.9)

20 log Ґout= 20 log | S22| (2.10)

2.2.3 Gain

The gain of the device is its ability to amplify the amplitude or power of the input signal. It is
defined as the ratio of output to input signal and is often expressed in decibel. The general
transducer gain (GT) of a two port network having S21 & S12 values, is

GT=

11
In terms of s-parameters, transducer gain (GT) is given by,
| | | | | |
GT= (2.11)
| | | |
If S12=0, then ҐIN = S11 and ҐOUT = S22 and transducer gain becomes the unilateral gain.
Overall gain (in dB) of the transistor:
GTU (dB) = GS (dB) + GO (dB) + GL (dB)

2.2.4 Stability

Stability is a major concern in RF amplifiers. It is obvious that an LNA may become an

oscillator if it is unstable in the circuit performance. After circuit designing its stability
should be examined by the designer. The degree of an amplifier’s stability can be quantified
by a so-called stability factor. The stability of a circuit is characterized by the stern stability
factor given in equation 2.12 [4]

| | | | | |
K= | ||
(2.12)
|

Δ=| | |- | || | (2.13)
If K> 1 and |Δ| < 1 then the amplifier is stabled throughout the selected frequency band and
bias conditions.

2.3 LNA Topologies

Low noise amplifier is the first stage in and it is very important part in RF receivers. Hereby,
low noise amplifier should be matched with the antenna characteristic. The characteristics of
antenna are excellent input and output matching and high gain. To optimize the low noise
amplifier design, the suitable topology should be selected for low power and low voltage. For
shunt series feedback common source topology, it is difficult to trade of among gain, small
noise figure and good input and output matching with very low power consumption.

Next, the noise must add to the LNA because of the resistor thermal noise for resistor
termination common source topology. Besides that, the specification is satisfied for inductive
degeneration common source topology in very low power consumption but the isolation is
not good enough compared to the cascade inductor source degeneration topology which can
get the similar low noise amplifier performance with very low power consumption. Lastly,
for cascade inductor source degeneration topology provides higher gain with a low noise
figure 2.4.

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Hence, there are several fundamental types of topologies for low noise amplifier and a
common low noise amplifier has been chosen for optimizing the LNA design. Figure 2.4
shows the topologies of LNA.

(a)Resistive Termination Common Source (b) Shunt Series Feedback Common Source

(c) Inductive Degeneration Common Source (d) Common Gate

Figure 2.4 Fundamental Of Topologies LNA:

Table 2.1: Comparison between different topologies

Topology Advantage Disadvantage

Resistive Termination Good input match Large NF
Common Source,
Shunt Series Feedback Broad band i/o match Not stable
Common Source
Inductive Degeneration Good matching in Large area
narrowband

Common Gate Better input match High NF

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 CHAPTER THREE

DESIGN OF LNA

Throughout the LNA design. we have used the ADS design tool from the Agilent
Technologies. We can divide the entire design into two steps i.e. schematic level design and
layout level design. Schematic level design includes schematic capture. choosing a simulation
type (DC. S-parameters, etc.) and choosing the simulation set-up. Once the schematic is
verified through simulation. it can be used as a component or sub network in another ADS
design. The LNA design was optimized on schematic level.

3.1 Design Specification

Before going to design LNA, design specification should be made properly. The following
things should be given attention such as bandwidth and central frequency for measurements,
noise figure (NF), gain, transistor model, source impedance, load impedance, matching
network
The design specifications for the low noise amplifier are as follows:

Table 3.1: LNA Design Parameter and Specification

Parameter Specification

Operating frequency 3 GHZ

Gain 17.7Db
Noise figure 0.6Db
Input matching Matched
Stability factor Unconditionally stable

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3.2 Transistor Selection
In order to make an LNA, the choice of transistor is critical. This is one of the most important
steps in designing a low-noise-amplifier (LNA). Different types of transistors are available
for LNA applications. According to specifications, appropriate transistor should be selected
for low-noise-amplifier due to its low noise figure and high gain. The numbers of transistors
are limited at the interested frequency. In this thesis work, ATF55413 is chosen.

The AVAGO Technologies’ ATF55143 is chosen for designing LNA. Avago Technologies’
ATF-55143 is a high dynamic range, very low noise, single supply E-PHEMT housed in a
4-lead SC-70 (SOT-343) surface mount plastic package. The combination of high gain, high
linearity and low noise makes the ATF-55143 ideal for cellular/PCS handsets, wireless data
systems (WLL/RLL, WLAN and MMDS) and other systems in the 450 MHz to 6 GHz
frequency range.

3.2.1 Features

There are some mentionable features of ATF55143 such as

 High linearity performance
 Single Supply Enhancement Mode Technology[1]
 Very low noise figure
 Excellent uniformity in product specifications
 400 micron gate width
 Low cost surface mount small plastic package SOT-343 (4 lead SC-70)
 Tape-and-Reel packaging option available
 Lead Free Option Available

3.2.2 Applications

Applications of AVAGO Technologies’ ATF-55143 are following

 Low noise amplifier for cellular/PCS handsets
 LNA for WLAN, WLL/RLL and MMDS applications
 General purpose discrete E -PHEMT for other ultralow
 noise applications

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 Figure 3.1 LNA schematic diagram using ADS [11]

3.3 LNA design

Primarily S parameter model of selected transistor(ATF55143) is going to use throughout the
LNA. After getting the LNA layout with proper input and output matching network. we will
use lumped elements model of the transistor. Using the fixed-bias network. the transistor
operating bias point is already adjusted in the previous section as IDS = 30 mA. VDS=3V and
Vm =0.5238 V.
It is needed to see the Rollett factor or stability factor of the model either stable or unstable
within the operating frequency. From the simulation result it is clear that it is necessary to
increase the stability factor within the operating frequency. So stabilization techniques are
used to get stable operation within the bandwidth(3-10 GHz).

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 Figure-3.2 The final schematic of the optimized low noise amplifier.

3.4 Input and output impedance matching

3.4.1 Why matching?

 To transfer maximum power from source to load

 To reduce reflections both at input side and output side of a transistor
 To reduce the noise figure
 To stabilize the transistor in the operating band
3.4.2 When it get matched?

 If Zs=Zin* and ZL=Zout*, then the input and output of the transistor impedances are
said to be matched
 At this condition, the maximum power is transferred from source to load, Noise figure
is minimum and VSWR is minimum.
 Our target to match this impedances and to get minimum noise
 To get minimum noise, gain can be compromised.

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Figure 3.3 Input matching network design

Figure 3.4 output matching network design

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 CHAPTER 4

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Stability

Figure.4.1 Schematic for stability test

Figure. 4.2 Transistor stability test 1

The transistor is unstable, because the value of stability factor K < 1.

In order to make it stabled, a shunt resistor is connected in front of the drain and by changing
its different values it was found that stability factor becomes, K > 1 only at frequency ( 1
GHz). To get stability factor K > 1 in the whole bandwidth, a shunt resistor (R1) is connected
to the drain as shown in the figure 4.5.1

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 Figure. 4.3 Transistor stability test 2

When a 300Ω shunt resistor is connected to the drain and 200 Ω resistor is connected to gate
the value of stability factor, K> 1 through the whole bandwidth as shown in figure 4.5.2.
Along to x-axis frequency and along to y-axis stability factor are plotted.

4.2 Gain
Using smith chart of gain circle we can see the value of the maximum gain. figure 4.6
shows the maximum gain is 17.7dB

Figure 4.4 Simulation result of gain

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4.3 Noise Figure
The lowest noise figure is needed in order to achieve the maximum gain. figure 4.7
shows the minimum noise figure. The minimum noise figure is obtained at frequency
3 GHZ. The Fmin value is rising slowly as frequency increases.

Figure. 4.5 Simulation result of noise figure (NF)

4.4 Input and Output Matching

The basic idea of input output matching is illustrated in figure 4.8. using the s parameters we
found input and output impedance matching. The need for matching network arises because
amplifiers, in order to get maximum gain both the input and output terminals must be
properly matched.

21
 Figure. 4.6 Simulation result of input and output impedance

4.5 Simulation Result

The simulation result for the proposed low noise amplifier is shown in above figures. The
designed low noise amplifier is designed to meet the following specification:
1. Frequency:3 GHZ
2. Supply Voltage: 3V
3 .Drain Current: 30mA
4. Noise Figure: 0.6dB
5.Gain:17.7 dB

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4.6 Conclusion
According to the design specifications low noise microwave amplifier(LNA) and
transmission lines are designed withATF-55143,and their performance are compared in the
simulation (schematic and layout). Optimization was performed according to get the desired
responses in all the designs. For the proposed low noise amplifier designed at 3GHZ and
Supply Voltage 3V, Drain Current: 30mA we get low Noise Figure: 0.6dB and Gain:17.7 dB
also good input and output impedance matching. Furthermore, throughout the whole design,
transistor was stable. The level of satisfaction of this Project work is satisfactory.

23
References

[1 ] Nguyen, Trung-Kien, Nam-Jin Oh, Hyung-Chul Choi, Kuk-Ju Ihm, and Sang-Gug Lee,
"CMOS low noise amplifier design optimization technique." In Circuits and Syste ms, 20 04.
MWSCAS '04. The 20 04 4 7th Midwest Symposium on, vol. 1, pp. 1-185 . IEEE , 2004.
[2] Lee, Jeonghoon, and Youngsik Kim, "CMOS low noise amplifier design techniques using
shunt resistive feedback." In Microwave Conference Proceedings, 2005. APMC 2005. Asia-
Pacific Conference Proceedings, vol. 3, pp. 4-pp. IEEE, 2005.
[3] Becky Mary Ninan, Karthigha Balamurugan, “Design of CMOS based Low Noise
Amplifier at 60 GHz and it’s Gain Variability through Body Biasing”. In 2017 International
Conference on Computer and Informatics (ICCCI-2017), January 2017.
[4] Amin Jamalkhah , Ahmad Hakimi “An Ultra-Wideband Common Gate LNA With Gm-
Boosted And Noise Canceling Techniques”, 2014.
[5] S. Murad and R. Ismail, “High gain 2.4 GHz CMOS low noise amplifier for Wireless
Sensor Network Applications,” in 2013 IEEE International RF and Microwave Conference
(RFM), pp. 39-41, 2013
[6] The institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers standards is available at
https://www.engpaper.com/lna=2017.html

[7] YouTube videos for low noise amplifier design are available at
https://www.youtube.com/youtube lna design

[8] David M. Pozar, Microwave and RF Wireless System, John Willey & Sons, Inc. Third
Edition, 2000. Chapter-10

[9] Ghosh, Smarajit, “Network Theory: Analysis and Synthesis”, Prentice Hall of India ISBN
81-203-2638-5 pp. 353
[10] Two-Port Networks, Visited date: 30 August, 2012 , http://fourier.eng.hmc.edu

[11] www.broadcom.com/products/wireless/transistors/fet/atf-55143#documentation

24
Appendixes
ATF-55143 Typical Scattering Parameters,
VDS = 3V, IDS = 30 mA
S11 S21 S12 S22 MSG/MAG
Freq. Mag Ang dB Mag Ang Mag Ang Mag Ang dB

0.1 0.996 -7.9 24.3 16.407 173.9 0.005 85.6 0.729 -4.5 35 16
0.5 0.937 -38.1 23.64 15.205 150.4 0.021 68.8 0.683 -21.2 28.60
0.9 0.840 -64.1 22.44 13.246 130.9 0.034 56.1 0.620 -34.3 25.91
1.0 0.819 -70.1 22.11 12.753 126.6 0.036 53.5 0.601 -36.8 25.49
1.5 0.712 -95.7 20.43 10.507 108.4 0.046 43.4 0.531 -46.5 23.59
1.9 0.646 -112.8 19.2 9.117 96.4 0.051 37.7 0.488 -51.8 22.52
2.0 0.631 -116.8 18.91 8.823 93.7 0.052 36.6 0.479 -52.9 22.30
2.5 0.571 -135.8 17.59 7.578 80.9 0.057 31.3 0.437 -57.7 21.24
3.0 0.531 -153. 9 16.42 6.625 69.4 0.062 26.6 0.398 -61.8 20.29
4.0 0.499 171.8 14.49 5.303 48.1 0.071 18.1 0.328 -71.6 18.73
5.0 0.512 140.9 12.84 4.386 28.1 0.078 9.2 0.273 -84.7 16.32
6.0 0.529 116 11.35 3.693 9.4 0.085 0.7 0.242 -98.5 14.36
7.0 0.552 94. 7 10.07 3.188 -8.3 0.092 -9 0.214 -112.9 12.98
8.0 0.573 73.9 8.91 2.79 - 25.6 0.096 -18.6 0.179 -120.5 11.65
9.0 0.609 55.1 7.94 2.496 -42.7 0.107 -25.8 0.134 -128.4 10.92
10.0 0.684 37.3 7.05 2.251 -61.3 0.118 -39.2 0.064 -173.3 10.93
11.0 0.744 21.6 5.91 1.975 -79.5 0.123 -51.9 0.075 87.5 10.53
12.0 0.786 7.9 4.83 1.744 -96.4 0.128 -64.3 0.141 49.7 10.16
13.0 0.816 -7.2 3.86 1.56 -113.9 0.131 -77.5 0.187 26.4 9.84
14.0 0.842 -22.8 2.93 1.401 -132.6 0.133 -91.7 0.250 5.1 9.51
15.0 0.870 -37.1 1.56 1.197 -151.1 0.128 -106 0.367 -12.6 8.39
16.0 0.866 -50.3 -0.01 0.998 -168.2 0.122 -119.1 0.467 -24.8 6.39
17.0 0.882 -59.7 -1.4 0.851 177 0.12 -130.8 0.543 -38.2 5.77
18.0 0.927 -69.9 -2.55 0.746 161.2 0.115 -144.8 0.602 -52.8 8.12

25
Typical Noise Parameters, VDS = 3V, IDS = 30 mA

Freq Fmin Γopt Γopt Rn/50 Ga

GHz dB Mag. Ang. dB
0.5 0.19 0.59 18.4 0.09 26.27
0.9 0.25 0.5 25.5 0.09 24.41
1.0 0.26 0.52 30.7 0.09 23.98
1.9 0.41 0.44 50.6 0.08 20.51
2.0 0.42 0.43 54.5 0.08 20.18
2.4 0.49 0.34 65.1 0.08 18.92
3.0 0.59 0.27 84.7 0.07 17.28
3.9 0.72 0.17 132.6 0.06 15.33
5.0 0.88 0.19 -156.2 0.06 13.61
5.8 1.02 0.24 -125.3 0.09 12.71
6.0 1.06 0.25 -118.8 0.1 12.52
7.0 1.2 0.32 -88.8 0.17 11.73
8.0 1.37 0.39 -62.7 0.28 11.08
9.0 1.53 0.47 -43.1 0.43 10.41
10.0 1.66 0 .57 -27 0.65 9.58

26