A Ka-band micromachined low-phase-noise oscillator

A low-phase-noise 28.65 GHz oscillator has been demonstrated using a planar resonator. The resonator is micromachined close to the transistor and has an unloaded Q of 460. The oscillator uses a commercially available high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) for the active device, and results in an output power of 0.6 dBm with a 5.7% DC-RF efficiency. The measured phase noise is -92 dBc/Hz at a 100 kHz offset frequency and -122 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset frequency. This is compared with a low-Q planar design showing a 10 dB improvement in phase noise. The micromachined resonator is competitive with other hybrid nonplanar technologies, such as dielectric resonators     

Design of wide-band CMOS VCO for multiband wireless LAN applications

In this paper, a general design methodology of low-voltage wide-band voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) suitable for wireless LAN (WLAN) application is described. The applications of high-quality passives for the resonator are introduced: 1) a single-loop horseshoe inductor with Q > 20 between 2 and 5 GHz for good phase noise performance; and 2) accumulation MOS (AMOS) varactors with C/sub max//C/sub min/ ratio of 6 to provide wide-band tuning capability at low-voltage supply. The adverse effect of AMOS varactors due to high sensitivity is examined. Amendment using bandswitching topology is suggested, and a phase noise improvement of 7 dB is measured to prove the concept. The measured VCO operates on a 1-V supply with a wide tuning range of 58.7% between 3.0 and 5.6 GHz when tuned between /spl plusmn/0.7 V. The phase noise is -120 dBc/Hz at 3.0 GHz, and -114.5 dBc/Hz at 5.6 GHz, with the nominal power dissipation between 2 and 3 mW across the whole tuning range. The best phase noise at 1-MHz offset is -124 dBc/Hz at the frequency of 3 GHz, a supply voltage of 1.4 V, and power dissipation of 8.4 mW. When the supply is reduced to 0.83 V, the VCO dissipates less than 1 mW at 5.6 GHz. Using this design methodology, the feasibility of generating two local oscillator frequencies (2.4-GHz ISM and 5-GHz U-NII) for WLAN transceiver using a single VCO with only one monolithic inductor is demonstrated. The VCO is fabricated in a 0.13-/spl mu/m partially depleted silicon-on-insulator CMOS process.     

A low-power ka-band Voltage-controlled oscillator implemented in 200-GHz SiGe HBT technology

An integrated low-power low phase-noise Ka-band differential voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) is developed in a 0.12-/spl mu/m 200-GHz silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistor technology. The use of line inductors instead of transmission lines is demonstrated to be feasible in LC-tuned resonators for Ka-band applications. This VCO can operate from a supply voltage of 1.6-2.5 V. A single-sideband phase noise of -99 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset from the carrier frequency of 33 GHz is achieved, together with a VCO figure-of-merit of -183.7 dBc/Hz. The frequency tuning constant of the VCO in the linear regime is -0.547 GHz/V.     

A 2.4 GHz high-linearity low-phase-noise CMOS LC-VCO based on capacitance compensation

A 2.4 GHz high-linearity low-phase-noise cross-coupled CMOS LC voltage-controlled oscillator(VCO) is implemented in standard 0.18-μm CMOS technology.An equalization structure for tuning sensitivity base on the three-stage distributed biased switched-varactor bank and the differential switched-capacitor bank is adopted to reduce the variations of the VCO gain,achieve high linearity,and optimize the phase-noise performance.Compared to the conventional VCO,the proposed VCO has more constant gain over the en...     

差分LC VCO的设计方法

通过分析振荡器的两种典型相位噪声模型,给出了振荡器相位噪声与电路参数的关系。在此基础上,提出了优化VCO相位噪声的设计方法：设计高Q值电感;调整尾电流的大小;调整nMOS管和pMOS管的尺寸。文章最后给出了一个2．4GHz全集成VCO的设计,仿真结果表明在2．4GHz时VCO的相位噪声为-120．4dBc／Hz@600kHz,证明该方法对于VCO的设计具有较好的指导作用。     

A Subthreshold Low Phase Noise CMOS LC VCO for Ultra Low Power Applications

A subthreshold low power, low phase-noise voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) is demonstrated in a commercial 0.18 mum CMOS process. In subthreshold regime, MOS drain current is dominated by diffusion mechanism resulting in a high ratio of transconductance to drain current and suppressed phase noise. Therefore, low power and low phase noise characteristics are achieved without using nonconventional high passive components. The VCO measures a phase noise of -106 dBc/Hz at 400 kHz offset from 2.63 GHz oscillation frequency with 0.43 mW power dissipation drawn from 0.45 V power supply. Figures of merit for this VCO (power-frequency-normalized of 12 dB and power frequency-tuning-normalized of -10 dB) are among the best reported for CMOS oscillators.     

A new phase noise reduction method of oscillator by loaded Q improvement using dual feedback topology

This letter presents a new method to reduce the phase noise in oscillator based on the loaded Q improvement approach. A hairpin resonator is weakly coupled to the two microstrip lines to improve the loaded Q of it and the dual feedback topology is used to enable the start-up oscillation condition to be satisfied. The high loaded Q property of the resonator in the proposed oscillator circuit is analyzed using the CAD simulation. For comparison the phase noise performances of the conventional hairpin resonator oscillator and the oscillator using the dual feedback are measured. Measurements show that the oscillator using the dual feedback exhibits a low phase noise performance of -109.1 dBc/Hz at 100-kHz offset at 10 GHz, which is reduced by about 10 dB compared to that of the conventional one.     

A novel complementary Colpitts differential CMOS VCO with low phase noise performance

A low phase noise Ka-band CMOS voltage-controlled oscillator is proposed in this paper. A new complementary Colpitts structure was adopted in a 0.18-μm CMOS process to achieve differential-ended outputs, low phase-noise performance, and low-power consumption. The designed VCO oscillates from 29.8 to 30 GHz with 200 MHz tuning range. The measured phase noise at 1-MHz offset is −109 dBc/Hz at 30 GHz and −105.5 dBc/Hz at 29.8 GHz. The power consumption of VCO is only 27 mW. In addition, compared with the published papers, the proposed CMOS VCO achieves the best figure of merit (FOM) of −185 dB at 29.95-GHz band.     

推–推振荡器共用谐振器分析与低相位噪声设计

为实现低相位噪声平面振荡器,对推-推振荡器的共用谐振器与相位噪声优化方法进行了研究。提出一种基于多环式开口谐振环的差分传输线,通过加载一对耦合谐振环的方式实现2个单元振荡器之间的弱耦合,提高了共用谐振器的频率选择特性。基于该结构设计并实现了一种X波段推-推振荡器,在设计中采用一种基于振荡器有源品质因子的相位噪声优化方法。测试结果表明：该振荡器在输出二次谐波9.52 GHz处的相位噪声为-115.48 dBc/Hz@100 kHz,基波抑制度达到-54.55 dBc。     

一个8GHz高功率AlGaN/GaN HEMT VCO

基于中科院微电子所的AlGaN/GaN HEMT工艺研制了一个X波段高功率混合集成压控振荡器（VCO）。电路采用源端调谐的负阻型结构,主谐振腔由开路微带和短路微带并联构成,实现高Q值设计。在偏置条件为VD=20V, VG=-1.9V, ID=150mA时,VCO在中心频率8.15 GHz处输出功率达到28 dBm,效率21%,相位噪声-85 dBc/Hz@100 KHz,-128 dBc/Hz@1 MHz。调谐电压0~5V时,调谐范围50 MHz。分析了器件闪烁噪声对GaN HEMT基振荡器相位噪声性能的主导作用。测试结果显示了AlGaN/GaN HEMT工艺在高功率低噪声微波频率源中的应用前景。     

An 8 GHz high power AlGaN/GaN HEMT VCO

A high power X-band hybrid microwave integrated voltage controlled oscillator(VCO) based on Al-GaN /GaN HEMT is presented.The oscillator design utilizes a common-gate negative resistance structure with open and short-circuit stub microstrip lines as the main resonator for a high Q factor.The VCO operating at 20 V drain bias and-1.9 V gate bias exhibits an output power of 28 dBm at the center frequency of 8.15 GHz with an efficiency of 21%.Phase noise is estimated to be -85 dBc/Hz at 100 kHz offset and -1...     

Concepts and methods in optimization of integrated LC VCOs

Underlying physical mechanisms controlling the noise properties of oscillators are studied. This treatment shows the importance of inductance selection for oscillator noise optimization. A design strategy centered around an inductance selection scheme is executed using a practical graphical optimization method to optimize phase noise subject to design constraints such as power dissipation, tank amplitude, tuning range, startup condition, and diameters of spiral inductors. The optimization technique is demonstrated through a design example, leading to a 2.4-GHz fully integrated, LC voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) implemented using 0.35-μm MOS transistors. The measured phase-noise values are -121, -117, and -115 dBc/Hz at 600-kHz offset from 1.91, 2.03, and 2.60-GHz carriers, respectively. The VCO dissipates 4 mA from a 2.5-V supply voltage. The inversion mode MOSCAP tuning is used to achieve 26% of tuning range. Two figures of merit for performance comparison of various oscillators are introduced and used to compare this work to previously reported results     

S波段低相噪同轴介质压控振荡器设计

运用串联反馈振荡器理论设计了一个工作于S波段的低相噪同轴介质压控振荡器。首先分析了同轴介质谐振器的理论以及串联反馈振荡器的工作原理,然后在高频电磁仿真软件HFSS和ADS中进行仿真和设计。为了实现电调谐,将变容管合理地加入振荡器,最终设计完成了一个S波段的低相噪同轴介质压控振荡器。通过对实物成品的测量和调试表明,此压控振荡器达到了预定的技术指标,各项性能良好。测试结果:工作频率为2.075~2.250 GHz,调谐范围为1.75 GHz,输出功率≥11 dBm,谐波抑制度≥23 dBc,相位噪声优于-133 dBc/Hz@100kHz。     

Switched resonators and their applications in a dual-band monolithic CMOS LC-tuned VCO

A switched resonator concept, which can be used to reduce the size of multiple-band RF systems and which allows better tradeoff between phase noise and power consumption, is demonstrated using a dual-band voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) in a 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS process. To maximize Q of the switched resonator when the switch is on, the mutual inductance between the inductors should be kept low and the switch transistor size should be optimized. The Q factor of switched resonators is /spl sim/30% lower than that of a standalone inductor. The dual-band VCO operates near 900 MHz and 1.8 GHz with phase noise of -125 and -123dBc/Hz at a 600-kHz offset and 16-mW power consumption. Compared to a single-band 1.8-GHz VCO, the dual-band VCO has almost the same phase noise and power consumption, while occupying /spl sim/37% smaller area.     

Frequency dependence on bias current in 5 GHz CMOS VCOs: impact on tuning range and flicker noise upconversion

The tuning curve of an LC-tuned voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) substantially deviates from the ideal curve 1//spl radic/(LC(V)) when a varactor with an abrupt C(V) characteristic is adopted and the full oscillator swing is applied directly across the varactor. The tuning curve becomes strongly dependent on the oscillator bias current. As a result, the practical tuning range is reduced and the upconverted flicker noise of the bias current dominates the 1/f/sup 3/ close-in phase noise, even if the waveform symmetry has been assured. A first-order estimation of the tuning curve for MOS-varactor-tuned VCOs is provided. Based on this result, a simplified phase-noise model for double cross-coupled VCOs is derived. This model can be easily adapted to cover other LC-tuned oscillator topologies. The theoretical analyses are experimentally validated with a 0.25 /spl mu/m CMOS fully integrated VCO for 5 GHz wireless LAN receivers. By eliminating the bias current generator in a second oscillator, the close-in phase noise improves by 10 dB and features -70 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz offset. The 1/f/sup 2/ noise is -132 dBc/Hz at 3 MHz offset. The tuning range spans from 4.6 to 5.7 GHz (21%) and the current consumption is 2.9 mA.     

应用于IMT-A和UWB系统的0.13μm CMOS宽带压控振荡器设计

基于TSMC 0.13μm CMOS工艺设计并实现了应用于IMT-Advanced和UWB系统的双频段宽带频率合成器中的电感电容压控振荡器(LC-VCO)。此压控振荡器的设计采用了开关电流源、开关交叉耦合对和噪声滤波等技术,以优化电路的相位噪声,功耗,振荡幅度,调谐范围等性能。为达到宽的调谐范围,核心电路采用了4比特可重构的开关电容调谐阵列。整个芯片包括焊盘面积为1.11′0.98 mm₂。测试结果表明,在1.2V电源电压下,两个频段压控振荡器所消耗的电流分别为3mA和4.5mA,压控振荡器的调谐范围为3.86~5.28GHz和3.14~3.88GHz。在振荡频率3.5GHz和4.2GHz上,1MHz频偏处,压控振荡器的相位噪声分别为-123dBc/Hz与-119dBc/Hz。     

Chip-package codesign of integrated voltage-controlled oscillator in LCP substrate

This paper presents the design and characterization of a negative resistance type 1.9-GHz oscillator using high quality factor (Q) embedded lumped-element LC passives in an organic-based substrate with liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) dielectric material. A design strategy using analytical models is implemented to determine the value of the base inductance subject to the constraints set by power dissipation. Additionally, the effect of component Qs on the phase noise is qualitatively discussed. This paper also addresses the effects of the parasitics of the surface-mount active devices on the noise spectrum of a negative resistance type voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO). The designed VCO is fully embedded in the LCP substrate and uses high Q on-package passive components. The VCO was measured to operate at 1.92 GHz dissipating 14 mW of dc power and measured a phase noise of -118dBc/Hz and -133 dBc/Hz at 600 KHz and 3-MHz offset, respectively. The high Q of the LC tank circuit was utilized to optimize the VCO to operate from a 2-V supply at bias current of 0.9 mA. Finally, the design and implementation issues in a 2.25-GHz Colpitt's oscillator on LCP substrate are shown. The effects of scaling capacitance ratio on VCO phase noise and on power consumption are verified for the Colpitt's oscillator.     

A Differentially-Tuned Voltage ControlledOscillator Using Symmetric Transformer

This letter proposes a new voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) topology that cancels common-mode noise by adoption of differential tuning varactor. To suppress common mode noise effectively, a symmetric three-coil transformer is proposed as a differential tuning resonator. The measured phase noise shows -128.7 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset frequency from the 1.2 GHz oscillation frequency. Over the whole frequency range, common-mode noise rejection is larger than 36 dB. Measured tuning range of the proposed VCO is about 204 MHz from the 1.18 GHz to 1.38 GHz while dissipating 1.2 mA at 1.8 V power supply.     

A low phase noise silicon 18-GHz push-push VCO

The design and measurement of a push-push voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) at 18.66-18.3 GHz are presented in this paper. The circuit includes two packaged silicon transistors (Siemens BFP 540F) and a microstrip resonator tuned by two GaAs varactor diodes (M/A-COM ML46580). A 360-MHz tuning range is obtained with an output power of 0-3.1 dBm. The fundamental rejection is around 17 dB for a wide range of collector bias current. The phase noise is below -103 dBc/Hz at 100-kHz offset and below -122 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz for the entire tuning bandwidth.     

A Low Phase-Noise Voltage-Controlled SAW Oscillator With Surface Transverse Wave Resonator for SONET Application

A surface transverse wave (STW) resonator-based oscillator was developed in response to SONET OC-48 application. To meet the low jitter objective, a high-Q STW resonator was designed and fabricated in this study. The residual phase-noise measurement techniques are used to evaluate the feedback oscillator components, such as the loop amplifier, STW resonator, and electronic phase shifter, which can play important roles in determining the oscillator's output phase-noise spectrum. The oscillator's white phase-noise floor is -170dBc/Hz for carrier-offset frequency greater than 1 MHz. The oscillator's phase-noise level is -67dBc/Hz at a 100-Hz carrier offset. Both low close-in phase-noise and low white phase-noise floor makes the oscillator meet low jitter requirement. The electronic frequency tuning range exceeds plusmn200ppm. The oscillator provides 13.5 dBm of output power and consumes 65 mA from +5-V power supply