Configurable Ultra Low Noise Ultra Wideband Power Efficient VCOs

Voltage-controlled oscillators with wide tuning range (more than octave-band) and low phase noise are essential building blocks for next-generation wireless communication systems. The coexistence of second and third generation wireless system require multi-mode, multi-band and multi-standard mobile communication systems, therefore, requiring a wideband source that may replace narrow band voltage-controlled oscillator (VCOs) modules by a single low noise wideband VCO. Phase noise can vary dramatically over the tuning range of the VCOs, but the published literature often obscures this fact by reporting the typical phase noise measurement at selected tuning voltages. The VCO design approach demonstrated in this work enables wideband tunability, lower noise performance over the tuning range, power efficient, compact size, configurable, and easily amenable for integration in chip form. The measured phase noise is better than -108 dBc at 100 kHz offset over the tuning range (1500-6000 MHz), and featuring uniform phase noise within 4 dB variations over the tuning range.