Design of a LC Voltage-Controlled Oscillator for Space Applications in C-Band

One of the leading subjects in ASIC design is space electronics, which entails special considerations. In this paper, we designed an LC-type voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) at 7.1 GHz (center frequency), which is aimed to operate under space conditions. The performance of the VCO is simulated using cryogenic transistor models. It is observed that the amplitude of the oscillating output along has increased at cryogenic temperatures while the phase noise dropped from -118 dBc/Hz to -126 dBc/Hz.