Design and Scaling of W-Band SiGe BiCMOS VCOs

This paper discusses the design of 77-106 GHz Colpitts VCOs fabricated in two generations of SiGe BiCMOS technology, with MOS and HBT varactors, and with integrated inductors. Based on a study of the optimal biasing conditions for minimum phase noise, it is shown that VCOs can be used to monitor the mm-wave noise performance of SiGe HBTs. Measurements show a 106 GHz VCO operating from 2.5 V with phase noise of -101.3 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset, which delivers +2.5 dBm of differential output power at 25degC, with operation verified up to 125degC. A BiCMOS VCO with a differential MOS-HBT cascode output buffer using 130 nm MOSFETs delivers +10.5 dBm of output power at 87 GHz.     

60GHz宽调谐范围推—推压控振荡器设计

基于65nmCMOS工艺实现了60GHz推—推压控振荡器（VCO）设计。采用互补交叉耦合去尾电流源结构以降低相位噪声。压控振荡器输出包含两级缓冲放大器,第二级缓冲放大器偏置在截止区附近以增大二次谐波的输出功率。在1.2/0.8V电源电压下,压控振荡器核心和缓冲放大器分别消耗2.43mW和2.95mW。在偏离中心频率1MHz处相位噪声为-90.7dBc/Hz。输出功率为-2.92dBm。特别的,压控振荡器的调谐范围达到9.2GHz（15.3%）,与调谐范围相关的性能指标FOMT为-182.7dBc/Hz。该压控振荡器可应用于57GHz～64GHz开放频段超高速短距离无线通信。     

Power efficient Ka-band low phase noise VCO in 0.13 μm CMOS

A 27 GHz cross-coupled LC voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) using a standard 0.13 mum CMOS technology is presented. The VCO using a high-Q LC resonator with a micro-strip inductor (mu-strip L) provides a phase noise of -113 dBc/Hz at a 1 MHz offset frequency. The figure - of-merit (FoM) is -194.6 dBc/Hz. To obtain high output power, it also uses a common source amplifier as a buffer and it shows the output power of -3.5 dBm at an oscillation frequency of 26.89 GHz. This is believed to be the lowest phase noise and FoM with the highest output power of a millimetre-wave VCO in CMOS technology.     

80-GHz differential VCO in InP SHBTs

A high frequency millimeter-wave voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) has been designed, manufactured and tested in InP single heterojunction bipolar transistor technology. The fully integrated fundamental differential VCO features high operating frequency up to 80 GHz with low phase noise about -118 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset and 5% tuning range. The VCO consumes only 95-mW power at a power supply of -5 V, while providing -2 dBm single-ended output power and 1 dBm for differential output power. The die size is 0.28 mm/sup 2/.     

A 21.5/43-GHz dual-frequency balanced Colpitts VCO in SiGe technology

A balanced Colpitts voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) is designed and fabricated in a commercially available 0.25-/spl mu/m SiGe BiCMOS process. It has the characteristics of the push-push VCO, i.e., the VCO has simultaneously a differential output at a fundamental frequency of 21.5 GHz and a single-ended output at the second harmonic frequency of 43 GHz. A differential tuning technique is applied to reduce the phase noise. The measured phase noise at 1-MHz offset is -113 dBc/Hz at 21.5 GHz and -107 dBc/Hz at 43 GHz. The corresponding output power is about -6 and -17 dBm, respectively, with a 5% tuning range and a 130-mW dc power consumption.     

A 6 GHz high power and low phase noise VCO using an InGaP/GaAs HBT

A 6 GHz voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) optimized for power and noise performance was designed and characterized. This VCO was designed with the negative-resistance (Neg-R) method, utilizing an InGaP/GaAs hetero-junction bipolar transistor in the negative-resistance block. A proper output matching network and a high Q stripe line resonator were used to enhance output power and depress phase noise. Measured central frequency of the VCO was 6.008 GHz. The tuning range was more than 200 MHz. At the central frequency, an output power of 9.8 dBm and phase noise of -122.33 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset were achieved, the calculated RF to DC efficiency was about 14%, and the figure of merit was -179.2 dBc/Hz.     

192 GHz push-push VCO in 0.13 /spl mu/m CMOS

A 192 GHz cross-coupled push-push voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) is fabricated using the UMC 0.13 /spl mu/m CMOS logic process. The VCO can be tuned from 191.4 to 192.7 GHz. The VCO provides output power of /spl sim/-20 dBm and phase noise of /spl sim/-100 dBc/Hz at 10 MHz offset, while consuming 11 mA from a 1.5 V supply.     

A Millimeter-Wave CMOS LC-Tank VCO With an Admittance-Transforming Technique

A novel circuit topology suitable for millimeter-wave voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) is presented. With the admittance-transforming technique, the proposed VCO can operate at a frequency close to the f_max of the transistors while maintaining remarkable circuit performance in terms of phase noise, tuning range, and output power. Using a standard micrometer CMOS process, a U-band VCO is implemented for demonstration. The fabricated circuit exhibits a frequency tuning range of 1.1 GHz in the vicinity of 50 GHz. The measured output power and phase noise at 1-MHz offset are -11 dBm and -101 dBc/Hz, respectively. Operated at a supply voltage of 1.8 V, the VCO core consumes a DC power of 45 mW.     

A V-Band Monolithic AlGaN/GaN VCO

A V-band push-push GaN monolithic microwave integrated circuit voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) has been realized based on a 0.2 mum T-gate AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor technology with an fT ~ 65 GHz. The GaN VCO delivered an output power of +11 dBm at 53 GHz with an estimated phase noise of -97 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset based on on-wafer measurement. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest frequency VCO ever reported for GaN technology with a high output power at V-band, without using any buffer amplifier. This work demonstrates the potential of applying GaN technology to millimeter wave band, high power, and low phase noise frequency sources applications.     

A fully integrated 5.8 GHz U-NII band 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS VCO

A fully integrated 5.8 GHz CMOS L-C tank voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) using a 0.18-/spl mu/m 1P6M standard CMOS process for 5 GHz U-NII band WLAN application is presented. The VCO core circuit uses only PMOS to pursue a better phase noise performance since it has less 1/f noise than NMOS. The measurement is performed by using a FR-4 PCB test fixture. The output frequency of the VCO is from 5860 to 6026 MHz with a 166 MHz tuning range and the phase noise is -96.9 dBc/Hz at 300 kHz (or -110 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz) with V ctrl = 0 V. The power consumption of the VCO excluding buffer amplifiers is 8.1 mW at V/sub DD/ = 1.8 V and the output power is -4 dBm.     

低相位噪声HBT单片压控振荡器的设计

与传统的硅双极晶体管(Si BJT)相比,异质结双极晶体管(HBT)具有特征频率高、1/f噪声小的优点,可以用在微波频段内的单片集成电路设计中。采用异质结双极晶体管(HBT)设计一种低相位噪声HBT单片VCO电路,芯片电路测试结果:电压控制频率范围fo=8.0~9.5 GHz;输出功率Pout=7~9.5 dBm;在偏离振荡中心频率foffset为100 kHz时相位噪声Pn=-106 dBc/Hz。     

基于新颖调谐谐振器的低相噪VCO设计

介绍了一种采用新颖谐振器的低相位噪声窄带压控振荡器(VCO)的设计方法。该谐振器采用源与负载横向交叉耦合结构,形成一个传输零点,提高了谐振器的Q值。该谐振器通过弱耦合与变容二极管连接,从而实现电压控制滤波器通带中心频率调谐。利用该谐振器设计了一个窄带VCO,并在先进设计系统(ADS)软件里仿真验证。该VCO中心频率6.15 GHz,在调谐电压从0到15 V的范围内调谐带宽60 MHz,相位噪声在整个调谐范围内优于-132 dBc/Hz@1MHz,输出功率为8.4 dBm,功率平坦度±0.1 dBm。     

A 108-GHz InP-HBT monolithic push-push VCO with low phase noise andwide tuning bandwidth

This paper reports on what is believed to be the highest frequency bipolar voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) so far reported. The W-band VCO is based on a push-push oscillator topology, which employs InP HBT technology with peak f_T's and f_max's of 75 and 200 GHz, respectively. The W-band VCO produces a maximum oscillating frequency of 108 GHz and delivers an output power of +0.92 dBm into 50 Ω. The VCO also obtains a tuning bandwidth of 2.73 GHz or 2.6% using a monolithic varactor. A phase noise of -88 dBc/Hz and -109 dBc/Hz is achieved at 1- and 10-MHz offsets, respectively, and is believed to be the lowest phase noise reported for a monolithic W-band VCO. The push-push VCO design approach demonstrated in this work enables higher VCO frequency operation, lower noise performance, and smaller size, which is attractive for millimeter-wave frequency source applications     

Wide tuning-range CMOS VCO based on a tunable active inductor

In this paper, a wide tuning-range CMOS voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) with high output power using an active inductor circuit is presented. In this VCO design, the coarse frequency is achieved by tuning the integrated active inductor. The circuit has been simulated using a 0.18-µm CMOS fabrication process and presents output frequency range from 100 MHz to 2.5 GHz, resulting in a tuning range of 96%. The phase noise is –85 dBc/Hz at a 1 MHz frequency offset. The output power is from –3 dBm at 2.55 GHz to +14 dBm at 167 MHz. The active inductor power dissipation is 6.5 mW and the total power consumption is 16.27 mW when operating on a 1.8 V supply voltage. By comparing this active inductor architecture VCO with general VCO topology, the result shows that this topology, which employs the proposed active inductor, produces a better performance.     

一种Ku波段宽调谐范围高输出功率的InGaP/GaAs HBT VCO

本文介绍了一种采用InGaP/GaAs HBT工艺实现的全集成应用于Ku波段的压控振荡器(VCO)。该VCO采用Colpitts结构,以达到宽调谐范围,并且该VCO取得了较高的输出射频功率。测试结果表明：该VCO的振荡频率为12.82 GHz～14.97 GHz,调谐范围为15.47%,输出射频功率为0.31 dBm～6.46 dBm,在载频13.9 GHz处相位噪声为-94.9 dBc/Hz@1 MHz。在5 V单电源直流偏置下该VCO的功耗为52.75 mW,其芯片尺寸为0.81 mm×0.78 mm。最后,本文对VCO的品质因数FOM指标进行了讨论。     

Balanced Colpitt oscillator MMICs designed for ultra-low phase noise

Balanced voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) based on a coupled Colpitt topology with a fully integrated tank are presented utilizing SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) and InGaP/GaAs HBT technologies. Minimum phase noise is obtained for all designs by optimization of the tank circuit including the varactor, maximizing the tank amplitude, and designing the VCO for Class C operation. Fundamental and second harmonic VCOs are evaluated. A minimum phase noise of less than -112 dBc at an output power of 5.5 dBm is achieved at 100-kHz carrier offset and 6.4-GHz oscillation frequency for the fundamental InGaP/GaAs HBT VCO. The second harmonic VCO achieves a minimum measured phase noise of -120 dBc at 100 kHz at 13 GHz. To our best knowledge, this is the lowest reported phase noise to date for a varactor-based VCO with a fully integrated tank. The fundamental frequency SiGe HBT oscillator achieves a phase noise of -108 dBc at 100 kHz at 5 GHz. All MMICs are fabricated in commercial foundry MMIC processes.     

一种基于MEMS的射频低相位噪声压控振荡器的研制

利用微机械可变电容作为频率调节元件,制备了一种中心频率为2GHz的 LC VCO.微机械可变电容的控制极板与电容极板分离,并采用表面微机械工艺制造,在2GHz时的Q值最高约为38.462.MEMS VCO的测试结果表明,偏离2.007GHz的载波频率100kHz处的单边带相位噪声为-107.5dBc/Hz,输出功率为-13.67dBm.对微机械可变电容引起的机械热噪声以及减小空气压膜阻尼来降低相位噪声的方法进行了讨论,提出了一种优化阻尼孔数目的方法.     

Ka波段低相位噪声GaAs MHEMT单片压控振荡器

报道了一种低相位噪声VCOMMIC芯片,采用传统的源端反馈形成负阻来消除谐振回路中的寄生电阻,通过合理的输出匹配实现起振条件并抑制谐波,利用南京电子器件研究所0.15μmGaAsMHEMT工艺,研制的Ka波段GaAsMHEMT压控振荡器,典型振荡频率为39.34GHz,频率变化范围38.6～41.3GHz之间,调谐带宽2.7GHz,典型输出功率6.97dBm,频偏100kHz,相位噪声为-81.1dBc/Hz。     

A K-band InGaP/GaAs HBT balanced MMIC VCO

A fully integrated K-band balanced voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) is presented. The VCO is realized using a commercially available InGaP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) technology with an f/sub T/ of 60 GHz and an f/sub MAX/ of 110 GHz. To generate negative resistance at mm-wave frequencies, common base inductive feedback topology is used. The VCO provides an oscillation frequency from 21.90 GHz to 22.33 GHz. The frequency tuning range is about 430 MHz. The peak output power is -0.3 dBm. The phase noise is -108.2 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset at an operating frequency of 22.33 GHz. The chip area is 0.84/spl times/1.00 mm/sup 2/.     

A 25-GHz ultra-low phase noise InGaP/GaAs HBT VCO

A 25-GHz monolithic voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) has been designed and fabricated in a commercial InGaP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) process. This balanced VCO has a novel topology using a feedback /spl pi/-network and a common-emitter transistor configuration. Ultra-low phase noise is achieved: -106 dBc/Hz and -130 dBc/Hz at 100kHz and 1-MHz offset frequency, respectively. To the authors' knowledge, this is the lowest phase noise achieved in a monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) VCO at such high frequency. The single-ended output power is -1 dBm. It can be tuned between 25.33GHz and 25.75GHz using the base-collector junction capacitor of the HBT as a varactor. The dc power consumption is 90mW for a 9-V supply. An excellent figure-of-merit of -195 dBc/Hz is obtained.