A self-calibration technique for wide tuning range PLLs

This paper presents a new calibration technique applicable for wide tuning range phase locked loops (PLLs) using very low gain voltage controlled oscillators (VCO). This technique uses the PLL main loop for the coarse and fine tuning of the VCO. Instead of using two loops which has been reported in previous works, in this work the VCO tuning voltage is used to calibrate the VCO switch capacitor array. Since the proposed calibration circuit operates in a closed loop form, it can be used for channel selection as well as adjusting for process, voltage and temperature variations. In addition, the calibration circuit has been used to set the VCO tail current in order to optimize VCO phase noise. A prototype frequency synthesizer has been designed in 0.18-μm CMOS process to work for a frequency range from 2.4 to 2.72 GHz. Simulation results show that using the proposed technique, a spur level of ?60 dB at 5 MHz offset from carrier was achieved while having negligible power overhead.     

A 84% tuning range, 4.3-GHz VCO with two-step negative-G<Subscript>m</Subscript> tuning and amplitude calibration loop

This paper presents wideband, low voltage CMOS LC-VCO with automatic two-step amplitude calibration loop to compensate the PVT variation. To cover the wide tuning range, digital automatic negative-G_m tuning loop and analog automatic amplitude calibration loop are proposed. The power consumption is 2–6 mA from a 1.2 V supply. The VCO tuning range is 3.4 GHz, from 2.35 to 5.75 GHz. The measured phase noise is −117 dBc/Hz at the 1 MHz offset when the center frequency is 4.313 GHz.     

A 0.5 V LC-VCO with improved varactor tuning technique for WSN

A 0.5 V LC-VCO implemented in 0.18 μm CMOS technology for wireless sensor network is described in this paper. An improved varactor tuning technique is proposed to decrease low frequency noise up-conversion and AM–FM phase noise of VCO, also it can increase Q of LC tank and reduce power consumption of VCO. For coarse tuning of VCO, it can increase the varactor control voltage variation range. For fine tuning of VCO, it can reduce the varactor nonlinearity. The measured tuning range is 4.58–5.26 GHz and power consumption is 2.2 mW. The measured phase noise is ?114 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz frequency offset from a 4.8 GHz carrier.     

Method for a Constant Loop Bandwidth in LC-VCO PLL Frequency Synthesizers

An LC-VCO based phase-locked loop (PLL) frequency synthesizer which incorporates loop bandwidth tracking is described. In order to minimize loop bandwidth variations resulting from changes in the LC-VCO gain, the proposed PLL employs an averaging varactor based split-tuned LC-VCO and a servo loop which sets the charge-pump current to be inversely proportional to the square of the oscillation frequency. The combination of these techniques maintains a constant loop bandwidth over a wide range of operating frequencies. Fabricated in a 0.13$ muhbox{m}$ CMOS technology, the prototype chip measures less than $pm$4% variation in $K_{rm VCO} cdot I_{rm CP} / N$ (equivalent to the variation in PLL loop bandwidth) for an operating frequency range of 3.1 to 3.9 GHz.      

低功耗宽带CMOS LC-VCO设计

基于电容调谐无尾电流源互补-Gm VCO,提出了一种新的宽带VCO功耗优化的方法。通过改变四个累积型可变电容(AMOS)的偏置电压实现对电容调谐曲线补偿,使频率调谐曲线在整个控制电压范围内接近线性化,从而实现宽的频率调谐范围。采用标准0.18μm1P6M RFCMOS工艺设计了一款3~3.6GHz频率范围LC-VCO。测试结果表明,整个VCO包含输出缓冲在内,面积为0.45mm2,工作在1.5V电源下,电流为1.8mA,输出相位噪声在200kHz偏移处为-93dBc/Hz。     

7.5 Gb/s monolithically integrated clock recovery circuit using PLLand 0.3-μm gate length quantum well HEMT's

A monolithically integrated clock recovery (CR) circuit making use of the phase-locked loop (PLL) circuit technique and enhancement/depletion AlGaAs/GaAs quantum well-high electron mobility transistors (QW-HEMT's) with gate lengths of 0.3 μm has been realized. A novel preprocessing circuit was used. In the PLL a fully-balanced varactorless VCO was applied. The VCO has a center oscillating frequency of about 7.7 GHz and a tuning range greater than 500 MHz. A satisfactory clock signal has been obtained at a bit rate of about 7.5 Gb/s. The power consumption is less than 200 mW at a supply voltage of -5 V     

具有自校准压控振荡器和精确自动频率校准算法的低噪声频率合成器

A low noise phase locked loop （PLL） frequency synthesizer implemented in 65 nm CMOS technology is introduced. A VCO noise reduction method suited for short channel design is proposed to minimize PLL output phase noise. A self-calibrated voltage controlled oscillator is proposed in cooperation with the automatic frequency calibration circuit, whose accurate binary search algorithm helps reduce the VCO tuning curve coverage, which reduces the VCO noise contribution at PLL output phase noise. A low noise, charge pump is also introduced to extend the tuning voltage range of the proposed VCO, which further reduces its phase noise contribution. The frequency synthesizer generates 9.75-11.5 GHz high frequency wide band local oscillator （LO） carriers. Tested 11.5 GHz LO bears a phase noise of-104 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz frequency offset. The total power dissipation of the proposed frequency synthesizer is 48 mW. The area of the proposed frequency synthesizer is 0.3 mm^2, including bias circuits and buffers.     

A Versatile 90-nm CMOS Charge-Pump PLL for SerDes Transmitter Clocking

This paper presents a low-jitter charge-pump phase-locked loop (PLL) built in standard 90-nm CMOS for 1 to 10 Gb/s wireline SerDes transmitter clocking. The PLL employs a programmable dual-path loop filter with integral path and resistorless sample-reset proportional path that are independently controlled for flexible setting of closed-loop bandwidth and peaking. Frequency is synthesized by a digitally calibrated LC-VCO achieving 45% calibration tuning range with inversion-mode nMOS varactors and area-efficient helical inductors. Following calibration, 4.8% hold range compensates for VCO sensitivity to supply voltage and temperature drift. The PLL exhibits 0.81 ps rms jitter at 10 Gb/s. Critical for ASICs integrating noisy digital cores and multiple SerDes channels, design considerations to minimize jitter induced by supply noise are described. Deep-submicron CMOS effects on design are also examined to improve manufacturability and performance.     

Design and performance of a robust 180 nm CMOS standalone VCO and the integrated PLL

The design details of a low power/wide tuning range phase locked loop (PLL) is presented in 180 nm CMOS together with the simulated and post fabrication measured performance. The PLL has been specifically designed for applications requiring a wide tuning range (1.55–2.28 GHz) while maintaining low power consumption (18 mW) and good phase noise (−100.9 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz). The tuning range represents significant improvement over other reported PLL CMOS implementations. To illustrate the robustness of the architecture, a 90 nm CMOS design is included with a 5.8–9.45 GHz tuning range (48%), phase noise of −111.7 dBc/Hz, and power consumption of 18.6 mW. The stand alone voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) and the PLL were fabricated on a single 180 nm die providing a unique opportunity to analyze and measure both the stand alone VCO phase noise performance and the integrated PLL phase noise performance. The contributions to the PLL phase noise (phase detector, charge pump, VCO, divider, and reference source) are delineated and both the theoretical and measured PLL phase noise performance is discussed. Design tradeoffs are included such as effect of loop bandwidth on phase noise contributions.     

基于90nmCMOS工艺的低功耗宽带压控振荡器设计

A low power VCO with a wide tuning range and low phase noise has been designed and realized in a standard 90 nm CMOS technology. A newly proposed current-reuse cross-connected pair is utilized as a negative conductance generator to compensate the energy loss of the resonator. The supply current is reduced by half compared to that of the conventional LC-VCO. An improved inversion-mode MOSFET(IMOS) varactor is introduced to extend the capacitance tuning range from 32.8% to 66%. A detailed analysis of the proposed varactor is provided. The VCO achieves a tuning range of 27–32.5 GHz, exhibiting a frequency tuning range(FTR) of 18.4%and a phase noise of –101.38 d Bc/Hz at 1 MHz offset from a 30 GHz carrier, and shows an excellent FOM of –185d Bc/Hz. With the voltage supply of 1.5 V, the core circuit of VCO draws only 2.1 m A DC current.     

A 125 GHz millimeter-wave phase lock loop with improved VCO and injection-locked frequency divider in 65 nm CMOS process

In this paper, a CMOS mm-wave phase locked loop (PLL) with improved voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) and injection-locked frequency divider (ILFD) at operational harmonic frequency 125 GHz is presented. The VCO structure uses the bulk effective and MOS varactor capacitor to adjust parasitic capacitor of the cross coupled pair. It obtains 2th harmonic frequency with 24% tuning range (110–140 GHz) by applying?±?1.2 V input voltage variation. The divide-by-4 ILFD circuit uses a cross coupled VCO with three injection transistors acting in linear and nonlinear regions. The frequency dividers such as divided-by-4 ILFD, subsequent current mode logic (CML) and true single phase clock (TSPC) as divider chain with ratio 1/256 are used to synthesize frequency 244 MHz which is compared to reference frequency, 244 MHz in the PLL. Simulation results of the proposed PLL circuit are obtained after extracting post layout (with total chip size of 0.29 mm²) in 65 nm CMOS standard technology and @ 1.2 V power supply voltage. The obtained results confirm theoretical relations and indicate that the proposed circuit has good figure of merit (FoM), and higher tuning range and lower die area than the recent designs.

     

A wide-band low phase noise LC-tuned VCO with constant K_(VCO)/ω_(osc) for LTE PLL

正A wideband LC-tuned voltage-controlled oscillator(LC-VCO) applied in LTE PLL frequency synthesizers with constant AVco/ω_(osc) is described.In order to minimize the loop bandwidth variations of PLL,a varactor array is proposed,which consists of a series of differential variable capacitor pairs and a series of single-pole double-throw(SPDT) switches to connect V_(tune) or V_(dd).The switches are controlled by switching bits.With this scheme,the ratio of K_V =(?)C_(var)/(?)V_(tune) and the capacitance value of the capacitor array maintains relatively constant; furthermore,the loop bandwidth of the PLL fluctuation is suppressed.The 3.2—4.6-GHz VCO for multi-band LTE PLL is fabricated in a 0.13-μm RF-CMOS process.The VCO exhibits a maximum variation of A_(VCO)/ω_(osc) of only±4%.The VCO also exhibits a low phase-noise of-124 dBc/Hz at a 1-MHz offset frequency and a low current consumption of 18.0 mA with a 1.2-V power supply.     

一个自调谐,自适应的1.9GHz分数/整数频率综合器

本文提出了一个具有自调谐,自适应功能的1.9GHz的分数/整数锁相环频率综合器.该频率综合器采用模拟调谐和数字调谐相结合的技术来提高相位噪声性能.自适应环路被用来实现带宽自动调整,可以缩短环路的建立时间.通过打开或者关断 ΣΔ 调制器的输出来实现分数和整数分频两种工作模式,仅用一个可编程计数器实现吞脉冲分频器的功能.采用偏置滤波技术以及差分电感,在片压控振荡器具有很低的相位噪声;通过采用开关电容阵列,该压控振荡器可以工作在1.7GHz~2.1GHz的调谐范围.该频率综合器采用0.18 μ m,1.8V SMIC CMOS工艺实现.SpectreVerilog仿真表明:该频率综合器的环路带宽约为100kHz,在600kHz处的相位噪声优于-123dBc/Hz,具有小于15 μ s的锁定时间.     

An ultra low power consumption millimeter-wave voltage controlled oscillator in a 65 nm CMOS-SOI technology

This paper presents an ultra low power consumption 65 GHz LC-VCO dedicated to wireless high data rate applications. It is designed in a 65 nm CMOS SOI process, which improves passive devices behavior. The proposed VCO achieves a frequency tuning range (FTR) of 9.7 % and a phase noise of ?110.86 dBc/Hz at 10 MHz of the carrier. All integrated passive components (including transmission lines and a transformer-based balun) are modeled using advanced electromagnetic (EM) field solvers. The power consumption of the proposed VCO is as low as 1.1 mW when biased by a 0.8-V supply voltage. The FoM of this millimeter wave circuit, whose core occupies a silicon footprint of only 0.047 mm², is ?184.07 dBc/Hz.     

A multiple-pass ring oscillator based dual-loop phase-locked loop

A dual-loop phase-locked loop (PLL) for wideband operation is proposed. The dual-loop architecture combines a coarse-tuning loop with a fine-tuning one, enabling a wide tuning range and low voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) gain without poisoning phase noise and reference spur suppression performance. An analysis of the phase noise and reference spur of the dual-loop PLL is emphasized. A novel multiple-pass ring VCO is designed for the dual-loop application. It utilizes both voltage-control and current-control simultaneously in the delay cell. The PLL is fabricated in Jazz 0.18-μm RF CMOS technology. The measured tuning range is from 4.2 to 5.9 GHz. It achieves a low phase noise of-99 dBc/Hz @ 1 MHz offset from a 5.5 GHz carrier.     

CMOS低相位噪声压控振荡器的设计

基于65 nm CMOS标准工艺库,设计了一个工作频率在10 GHz的具有低相位噪声的CMOS电感电容型压控振荡器。该压控振荡器选用CMOS互补交叉耦合型电路结构,采用威尔逊型尾电流源负反馈技术来降低相位噪声。仿真结果表明,此压控振荡器工作频率覆盖范围为9.9~11.2 GHz,调谐范围为12.3%,中心频率为10.5 GHz,在频率偏移中心频率1 MHz下的相位噪声为-113.3 dBc/Hz,核心功耗为2.25 mW。     

A constant loop bandwidth fractional-N frequency synthesizer for GNSS receivers

正A constant loop bandwidth fractional-TV frequency synthesizer for portable civilian global navigation satellite system(GNSS) receivers implemented in a 130 nm 1P6M CMOS process is introduced.Via discrete working regions,the LC-VCO obtains a wide tuning range with a simple structure and small VCO gain.Spur suppression technology is proposed to minimize the phase offset introduced by PFD and charge pumps.The optimized bandwidth is maintained by an auto loop calibration module to adjust the charge pump current when the PLL output frequency changes or the temperature varies.Measurement results show that this synthesizer attains an in-band phase noise lower than -93 dBc at a 10 kHz offset and a spur less than -70 dBc;the bandwidth varies by±3%for all the GNSS signals.The whole synthesizer consumes 4.5 mA current from a 1 V supply,and its area(without the LO tested buffer) is 0.5 mm~2.     

一种应用于GNSS接收机常数环路带宽的小数频率合成器

提出了一种应用于手持式民用GNSS接收机常数环路带宽的小数频率合成器,并在0.13μm 1P6M 的CMOS工艺中实现。通过离散的工作区域,LC-VCO用简单的结构获得宽的调节范围和小的压控灵敏度。提出的杂散抑制技术来最小化由于鉴频鉴相器和电荷泵引入的相位偏移。当PLL输出频率改变或温度变化时,通过自动环路校正模块自适应调整电荷泵电流保持优化的环路带宽不变。测试结果显示,该频率合成器带内相位噪声小于-93dBc（10 kHz 频率偏移处）,杂散小于-70 dBc, 环路带宽变化小于?3%;在1V的电源供电下,整个合成器（不包括本振测试buffer）消耗4.5mA电流,面积为0.5mm2。     

基于响应曲面建模的LS频段VCO优化设计

提出了一种采用响应曲面(RSM)协同优化压控振荡器(VCO)的功耗、相位噪声的方法。以差分耦合LC-VCO电路为实验设计对象,在电路结构上增加级联交叉耦合负阻管结合外部电流镜偏置,改进了相位噪声和功耗性能。在此基础上,建立VCO性能的响应曲面模型,优化并选取最佳电路设计参数的组合,获取最佳性能。基于TSMC CMOS 65 nm、1.8 V RF工艺的实验结果表明,优化后的VCO各项性能指标均显著提升。该VCO的调谐范围达2.377 GHz~2.583 GHz,即206 MHz,相位噪声为-113.44 dBc/Hz@1 MHz,功耗低至0.66 mW,FoM值达184.27 dBc/Hz。该LS频段VCO适用于WiFi、物联网等无线通信中射频收发集成电路。     

A low jitter 0.3-165 MHz CMOS PLL frequency synthesizer for 3 V/5 Voperation

This paper describes a phase-locked loop (PLL) based frequency synthesizer. The voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) utilizing a ring of single-ended current-steering amplifiers (CSA) provides low noise, wide operating frequencies, and operation over a wide range of power supply voltage. A programmable charge pump circuit automatically configures the loop gain and optimizes it over the whole frequency range. The measured PLL frequency ranges are 0.3-165 MHz and 0.3-100 MHz at 5 V and 3 V supplies, respectively (the VCO frequency is twice PLL output). The peak-to-peak jitter is 81 ps (13 ps rms) at 100 MHz. The chip is fabricated with a standard 0.8-μm n-well CMOS process