A 300-MHz-band, sub-1 V and sub-1 mW CMOS SAW oscillator suitable for use in RF transmitters

An ultra low power CMOS SAW oscillator in the 300MHz-band that operates on a sub-1V supply voltage and at sub-1 mW power consumption has been developed. The SAW oscillator is fabricated in a 0.35-mu m fully depleted SOI (FD-SOI) process with low voltage operation capability. The SAW oscillator is configured as a type of Colpitts oscillator but consists of 3 cascaded amplifiers instead of a single amplifier. Although the circuit configuration is quite similar to the conventional Colpitts oscillator, this proposed configuration generates an excessively high negative resistance that even exceeds the theoretical limit of the conventional one.