A radio frequency low noise amplifier circuit with a receive signal input, a receive signal output, and a voltage source include a low noise amplifier and a coupled inductor circuit with a primary inductive chain connected to the output of the low noise amplifier and to the voltage source. The coupled inductor circuit further includes a secondary inductive chain with a first inductor electromagnetically coupled to the primary inductive chain, and a second inductor in series with the first inductor and magnetically coupled to the primary inductive chain. The second inductor is connected to a feedback node of the low noise amplifier. There is an output matching network connected to the first inductor of the secondary inductive chain and to the receive signal output.

An amplifier includes a gain transistor including a control terminal to receive an input signal. A degeneration inductor is coupled between the first terminal of the gain transistor and ground. A shunt inductor and a capacitor are coupled in series between the control terminal of the gain transistor and ground, and form a filter to attenuate frequencies of the input signal within a frequency range. The degeneration inductor and the shunt inductor form a transformer to provide impedance matching.

A linear low noise amplifier is disclosed. In at least one exemplary embodiment, the linear low noise amplifier may include a first metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) configured to operate in a triode mode coupled to a second MOSFET configured to operate in a saturation mode. Linearity of the low noise amplifier may be determined, at least in part, by a transconductance associated with the second MOSFET and a channel resistance associated the first MOSFET.

A radio frequency low noise amplifier circuit with a receive signal input, a receive signal output, and a voltage source include a low noise amplifier and a coupled inductor circuit with a primary inductive chain connected to the output of the low noise amplifier and to the voltage source. The coupled inductor circuit further includes a secondary inductive chain with a first inductor electromagnetically coupled to the primary inductive chain, and a second inductor in series with the first inductor and magnetically coupled to the primary inductive chain. The second inductor is connected to a feedback node of the low noise amplifier. There is an output matching network connected to the first inductor of the secondary inductive chain and to the receive signal output.

Methods and devices addressing design of wideband LNAs with gain modes are disclosed. The disclosed teachings can be used to reconfigure RF receiver front-end to operate in various applications imposing stringent and conflicting requirements. Wideband and narrowband input and output matching with gain modes using a combination of the same hardware and a switching network are also disclosed. The described methods and devices also address carrier aggregation requirements and provide solutions that can be used both in single-mode and split-mode operations.

Disclosed are apparatuses and methods to overcome technology limitations to achieve linearity and efficiency performance suitable for practical wireless communications systems. In an embodiment, an amplifier is provided that superimposes the transconductance from a common source amplifier with inductor degeneration with the transconductance from a common source amplifier without degeneration. In an embodiment, an amplifier is provided having a feedback-balun-transformer that provides electro-magnetic coupling between primary, secondary, and negative feedback degeneration inductors and a differential to single-ended conversion output.

An amplifier for converting a single-ended input signal to a differential output signal. The amplifier comprises a first transistor, a second transistor, a third transistor and a fourth transistor. The first transistor, configured in common-source or common-emitter mode, receives the single-ended input signal and generates a first part of the differential output signal. The second transistor, also configured in common-source or common-emitter mode, generates a second part of the differential output signal. The third and fourth transistors are capacitively cross-coupled. The amplifier further comprises inductive degeneration such that a source or emitter of the first transistor is connected to a first inductor and a source or emitter of the second transistor is connected to a second inductor.

A low-noise amplifier (LNA) includes a first transistor, a first source inductor coupled to a source of the first transistor, and a second transistor, wherein a source of the second transistor is coupled to a drain of the first transistor, a gate of the second transistor is coupled to a bias circuit, and a drain of the second transistor is coupled to an output of the LNA. The LNA also includes an output inductor coupled between a supply rail and the output of the LNA, wherein the output inductor is magnetically coupled with the first source inductor.

Bias circuits and methods for silicon-based amplifier architectures that are tolerant of supply and bias voltage variations, bias current variations, and transistor stack height, and compensate for poor output resistance characteristics. Embodiments include power amplifiers and low-noise amplifiers that utilize a cascode reference circuit to bias the final stages of a cascode amplifier under the control of a closed loop bias control circuit. The closed loop bias control circuit ensures that the current in the cascode reference circuit is approximately equal to a selected multiple of a known current value by adjusting the gate bias voltage to the final stage of the cascode amplifier. The final current through the cascode amplifier is a multiple of the current in the cascode reference circuit, based on a device scaling factor representing the relative sizes of the transistor devices in the cascode amplifier and in the cascode reference circuit.

Embodiments disclosed herein relate to impedance matching for outputting wide-band signals in radio frequency applications. In an example, a circuit including a low-noise amplifier (LNA) sub-circuit and a tuning sub-circuit is provided. The LNA sub-circuit is configured to couple to an antenna and includes a transistor that includes a gate, a source, and a drain, a first inductor that includes a first terminal configured to couple to the antenna and includes a second terminal, a second inductor that includes a first terminal coupled to the first terminal of the first inductor and includes a second terminal coupled to the gate of the transistor, and a third inductor that includes a first terminal coupled to the source of the transistor and includes a second terminal. The tuning sub-circuit is coupled to the source of the transistor.