A 0.049mm2 7.1-to-16.8GHz Dual-Core Triple-Mode VCO Achieving 200dB $\mathbf{FoM}_{\mathbf{A}}$ in 22nm FinFET

LC VCOs with low phase noise (PN) and an octave frequency-tuning range (FTR) are required for multistandard communication devices, software-defined radios, and wireline data links. A viable popular approach is to exploit multicore mode-switching VCOs for two reasons: (1) their PN improves linearly by in-phase coupling of N identical VCOs; (2) the resonant-mode switching enhances the VCO FTR withou...