A Design of LC-tuned Sinusoidal VCOs Using OTA-C Active Inductors

Sinusoidal voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) based on Colpitts and Hartley oscillators are presented. They consist of a LC parallel-tuned circuit connected in a negative-feedback loop with an OTA-R amplifier and two diode limiters, where the inductor is simulated one realized with temperature-stable linear operational transconductance amplifiers (OTAs) and a grounded capacitor. Prototype VCOs are built with discrete components. The Colpitts VCO exhibits less than 1% nonlinearity in its current-to-frequency transfer characteristic from 4.2 to 21.7 MHz and ${\pm}$95 ppm/$^{\circ}C$ temperature drift of frequency over 0 to $70^{\circ}C$. The total harmonic distortion (THD) is as low as 2.92% with a peak-to-peak amplitude of 0.7 V for a frequency-tuning range of 10.8-32 MHz. The Hartley VCO has the temperature drift and THD of two times higher than those of the Colpitts VCO.