Abstract
In 2002, the FCC released an unlicensed UWB frequency band from 3.1 GHz to 10.6 GHz. This frequency band opens for new wireless applications. Most wireless applications need analog front-end for interfacing the antenna, often in the form of a wideband microwave LNA.
This thesis will address some of the main aspects of microwave LNA design for use in the UWB frequency band. Trough evaluation of the published literature on the subject, a circuit topology has been selected, explored and redesigned. The tradeoffs concerning input- and output match, bandwidth and gain has been explored and discussed.
As a part of this thesis four prototype UWB LNAs have been developed, using a minimum of inductors to maintain the bandwidth, gain and matching properties. These LNAs shows promising results in post-layout simulations. The achieved simulation result is 15.1dB gain with a -3 dB bandwidth of 0.4- to 8.6 GHz and a NF below 5.8 dB. The proposed LNAs circuits should be of great interest for further development in microwave and UWB systems.