Oscillator with multi-tap inductor, capacitors, and negative-Gm stages

An electronic communications device comprising:

• a controller configured to regulate the operation of the electronic communications device and to perform computations;
• a modem coupled to the controller, the modem configured to modulate data to be transmitted by the electronic communications device;
• a radio frequency unit coupled to the controller and to the modem, the radio frequency unit configured to convert a digital data stream into an analog signal and to mix the analog signal with a carrier signal;
• an oscillator coupled to the controller and to the radio frequency unit, the oscillator configured to produce a timing and frequency reference signal for the radio frequency unit based on control information provided by the controller, the oscillator comprising,
• a multi-tap inductor having at least two pairs of taps and a center tap, wherein each pair of taps is coupled to a conductor at specified positions on the conductor, wherein the center tap is coupled to a first power rail,
• a plurality of capacitors, each capacitor having a first terminal coupled to a tap of the pairs of taps of the multi-tap inductor and a second terminal coupled to a second power rail, and
• a plurality of negative-Gm stages, each negative-Gm stage controllably coupled by the controller to a pair of taps of the multi-tap inductor;
• an amplifier coupled to the radio frequency unit, the amplifier configured to increase a signal level of a mixed analog signal to a level for transmission by an antenna;
• a memory coupled to the controller, the memory to store programs and data;
• and
• a user interface unit coupled to the controller, the user interface unit configured to accept user input.