A 27.9-53.5-GHz Transformer-Based Injection-Locked Frequency Divider with 62.9% Locking Range

An ultra-wide locking range transformer-based injection-locked frequency divider (ILFD) is presented. By making use of a 4-order transformer-based resonator and an inductive gain peaking technique, the proposed ILFD can achieve high performance in terms of wide locking range and low power consumption. Fabricated in a standard 65nm CMOS process with a core area of 0.18mm, the ILFD measures a locking range of 62.9% from 27.9 to 53.5 GHz while consuming 5.8mW from a 1V power supply. Moreover, when operating at 0.8V power supply, the proposed ILFD consumes only 3.2mW with 48.9% locking range. Index Terms — Inductive gain peaking, injection-locked frequency divider (ILFD), locking range, transformer.