N-Push OperationCombines VCO And Divider At 60 GHz

Nov. 9, 2010

Many recent innovationS have presented architectures for CMOS millimeter-wave frequency generators targeting the 60-GHz band. Yet few achieve the tuning required to cover the entire 57-to-66-GHz range of worldwide bands with some margin for process and temperature variations. At Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Burak atli and Mona Mostafa Hella have proposed the use of triple-push oscillators as a combined voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO)/divider in a typical millimeter-wave frequency synthesizer.

If it is employed in a phase-locked loop (PLL), the researchers propose that this VCO/ divider will provide a wider tuning range than traditional millimeter-wave PLLs. Using a 206- pH tank inductance, a 55-to-65-GHz tuning range is obtained. Phase noise is -91 dBc/Hz offset 10 MHz from the 63.2-GHz carrier and -95 dBc/Hz offset 10 MHz from the 72.4- GHz carrier. See "Triple-Push Operation for Combined Oscillation/Division Functionality in Millimeter-Wave Frequency Synthesizers," IEEE Journal Of Solid-State Circuits, August 2010, p. 1575.

About the Author

Nancy Friedrich

RF Product Marketing Manager for Aerospace Defense, Keysight Technologies

Nancy Friedrich is RF Product Marketing Manager for Aerospace Defense at Keysight Technologies. Nancy Friedrich started a career in engineering media about two decades ago with a stint editing copy and writing news for Electronic Design. A few years later, she began writing full time as technology editor at Wireless Systems Design. In 2005, Nancy was named editor-in-chief of Microwaves & RF, a position she held (along with other positions as group content head) until 2018. Nancy then moved to a position at UBM, where she was editor-in-chief of Design News and content director for tradeshows including DesignCon, ESC, and the Smart Manufacturing shows.