Design of CMOS Active Inductors for RFIC Applications: A Review

This paper represents the relative differences between the previously proposed active inductor designs. The parameters such as quality factor, power consumptions, and inductance tuning have been considered while comparing the performances of these inductors, operating at radio frequency. Inductors are widely used in integrated circuits for their tunability property. RF applications of inductors include the use in filters, low-noise amplifiers, and VCOs. Over the years different designs of active inductors have been proposed to eliminate the problems associated with conventional on-chip inductors. Different designs that propose techniques to reduce distortions, to improve the quality factor and tunability have been considered in this paper.