Phase Noise Requirements Research Articles

[formula omitted] methodology applied to ring oscillators

This work presents a ring oscillator design flow that calculates the transistor’s dimensions and bias currents that meet the oscillation frequency and phase noise requirements using only pre-calculated tables and MATLAB scripts. The methodology combines look-up tables, the gm/ID methodology, and the square root of the delay K. Results indicate a significant correlation between calculation and simulations with a variation percentage of the frequency oscillation from 2.3% up to 29% for oscillators designed in a TSMC 180 nm CMOS technology.

Compensation of Phase Noise Impairments in Distributed Acoustic Sensors Based on Optical Pulse Compression Time-Domain Reflectometry

We introduce a method to compensate for the deleterious effects of the phase noise of the laser source on long-range distributed acoustic sensors (DAS) that implement optical pulse compression (OPC). Pulse compression can be used in coherent optical time-domain reflectometry (COTDR) sensors to extend the measurement range without compromising spatial resolution. In fact, OPC-COTDR sensors have demonstrated the longest measurement range to date in passive sensing links that do not require distributed amplification to compensate fiber attenuation. However, it has been found that the limited coherence of the laser source has a degrading effect on the actual performance enhancement that pulse compression can bring because it constrains the maximum duration of the compression waveforms that can be used and makes the use of lasers with extremely low phase noise necessary. We introduce a technique to compensate for the effects of phase noise on OPC-COTDR sensors so that they can demonstrate their full potential for long-range measurements using lasers with less stringent phase noise requirements. The method is based on sampling the phase noise of the laser with an auxiliary interferometer and using this information in a simple signal processing technique to mitigate its deleterious effect on the signal measured. We test our method in an OPC-COTDR sensor that uses 500- <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu$</tex-math></inline-formula> s linear frequency modulated pulses to demonstrate 100-km range measurements with 200 <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\rm{p}\epsilon /\sqrt{\rm{Hz}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> of strain sensitivity at 2-m initial spatial resolution that becomes 10-m after applying the gauge length. To our knowledge, this is the longest compression waveform demonstrated to date in an OPC-COTDR sensor. Its use provides an extra 20-km range compared to previous demonstrations using laser sources of comparable linewidth. Furthermore, comparable performance is also demonstrated when using a laser source with an order of magnitude larger linewidth.

Stray Light Analysis and Suppression of Taiji Telescope for Space Gravitational Wave Detection Based on Phase Noise Requirement

The telescope is the core device for space gravitational wave detection. It is responsible for receiving signal light and emitting outgoing light simultaneously. When the high-energy outgoing laser passes through the telescope, it would produce stray light, which would interfere with the phase measurement and generate phase noise. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze and suppress the stray light of the telescope. In this paper, the requirement of point source transmittance (PST) of the Taiji telescope is obtained through theoretical derivation, which is less than 4×10−10. Through a complete analysis of stray light, we determined that the M4 was the largest source of stray light under the condition that the roughness of each optical surface is equal, which accounted for 67.22%. We also determined the most lenient requirements for surface roughness σλ, and found that when σλ of the M1, M2, M3, and M4 were 20 Å, 4 Å, 1 Å, and 1 Å, respectively, the PST was 3.89×10−10, which met the PST requirement. Next, we calculated the effect of particulate contamination on the PST, and based on the results of our analysis, we determined that the cleanliness level of the testing and storage environment of the Taiji telescope was better than 300. Finally, we evaluated the changes in the PST caused by the damage of micrometeoroids, and the analysis results showed that the stray light level would not change significantly during the service period of the Taiji Telescope.

Reconfigurable Low Phase Noise RF Carrier Generation up to W-Band in Silicon Photonics Technology

Reconfigurable radiofrequency (RF) signal generation in the 30–300 GHz range is attractive for many applications. W-band (75–110 GHz) is currently targeted by both wireless and satellite communications and similar frequency ranges are employed for on-board automotive radar systems. Distribution of high-precision and high-frequency synchronization signals in modern centralized radio access networks might be addressed by radio-over-fiber solutions, but the stringent phase noise (PN) requirements in case of broadband signals with high subcarriers density are not easily attainable through conventional electric-domain solutions. This article reports on the performance of a monolithically integrated silicon photonics (SiP) circuit employed for RF carrier synthesis. Up to sixfold frequency multiplication of an 18.5 GHz reference clock is demonstrated with low additional phase noise. The circuit includes a high-speed electro-optic phase modulator employed for optical frequency comb (OFC) generation and a tunable distributed feedback resonator (DFBR) filter for selecting the desired OFC harmonic. The beating of the OFC tone with the input laser mode in an off-chip photodiode generates the target RF carrier wave. By tuning the reference clock and the DFBR filter, reconfigurable frequency generation up to W-band and beyond is achieved. PN and time jitter (TJ) of the generated RF carriers are experimentally measured, demonstrating a similar performance as of an ideal frequency multiplier. The effect of the noise of DC sources employed for filter tuning is assessed and a counteracting solution is implemented. TJ robustness versus laser drifting is analyzed and the potential for up to elevenfold frequency multiplication (203.5 GHz) is shown.

Investigation of support transducer enabled higher-order radial bulk mode MEMS resonator and low phase noise oscillator

This work reports the successful excitation of a novel bulk acoustic mode whose actuation and sensing are facilitated by the support transducer topology (STT). The design methodology concurrently supports low motional impedance and high energy confinement features which are crucial for frequency reference components in Radio Frequency communication. A conventional bulk mode operating in the width extension (WE) mode is deployed to efficiently excite the higher-order radial mode using the STT design feature of resonant frequency matching. The thin-film piezoelectric on substrate support transducers excited in a WE mode is mechanically coupled to the bulk silicon allowing the acoustic energy of the MEMS resonator to be stored maximally in the high-quality factor (Q) resonant tank, thereby alleviating the overall losses due to low-Q of the piezoelectric thin film and electrode material. The resonator exhibits a Q of 19 728 at 63.56 MHz resonant frequency with a motional resistance (R m) of 368 Ω when measured in vacuum at a power level of 0 dBm. Under cryogenic measurement conditions, the device recorded a Q of 24 153 at 15 K. A standalone WE resonator is studied to put a spotlight on the quality factor enhancement technique using the STT. The STT enabled novel bulk mode enhances the overall Q by 320% and halves the R m. When implemented as an oscillator, its performance exceeds the Global System for Mobile communication standards phase noise (PN) requirements. PN of −136.95 dBc Hz−1 and −161.52 dBc Hz−1 at 1 kHz and 1 MHz offset, respectively, were recorded when normalized to a carrier frequency of 13 MHz.

W대역 소형 레이다의 주파수 해상도 향상을 위한 위상잡음 분석

FMICW radars detect and track targets using frequency information based on the distance and velocity of the target. Therefore, the phase noise of the received signal and the frequency resolution must be minimized to ensure detection and tracking accuracy of the radars. However, as the signal frequency increases, the phase noise degrades. Therefore, the design requirement of the phase noise is important for radar using high-frequency signals. In this study, the phase noise of the transmission signal (FTX), local oscillation signal (FLO1, FLO2), and reference signal (Fref) are analyzed for application to a W-band compact radar. Additionally, phase-noise requirements are derived to increase the frequency resolution of the radar within a range that can be implemented in a W-band transceiver.

A Stacked-Complementary 5 GHz Oscillator With Even-Only Differential Harmonic Shaping Achieving −150 dBc/Hz Phase Noise at 10-MHz Offset Using Body-Biased Thin-Oxide 22-nm FDSOI

This letter proposes a 5-GHz stacked-complementary oscillator (SCO) that uses high-quality factor ( $Q$ ) single-turn nested differential inductors to achieve very low tank fundamental impedance $R_{\mathrm{ Tank}}$ and even-harmonic shaping. The complementary nature of nMOS and pMOS is exploited to achieve second and fourth harmonic common-mode resonances using differential-only inductors with higher $Q$ compared to the conventional single-ended tail filter. The complementary-stacked topology ensures the voltage between any two device terminals remains within reliable limits, while the body-bias is used to set the oscillator class with much lower noise sensitivity compared to the standard gate biasing. The SCO achieves < −150 dBc/Hz phase noise at 10-MHz offset across the tuning range from 4.75 to 5.4 GHz and a supply frequency pushing better than 20 MHz/V, while using thin-oxide devices operated from 0.6 V in a 22-nm technology node. The SCO meets the stringent phase noise requirements of the GSM standard while keeping a figure-of-merit (FoM) of 191–193 dBc/Hz at 10-MHz offset.

A Scalable Millimetre-Wave Differential CMOS Cross-Coupled VCO for Automotive Radar Application

In this paper, a novel method to realize LC Voltage-Controlled-Oscillator (LC-VCO) operating at 76.2–76.7[Formula: see text]GHz frequency band for microwave RFIC component is presented. The model of cross-coupled differential LC-VCO is designed in 45[Formula: see text]nm technology using Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) process for Frequency Modulated Carrier Wave (FMCW) automotive radar sensors and RF transceivers application. The impact of VDD, control voltage and temperature variation on frequency shift, phase noise, and output power has been analyzed to optimize the trade-off between frequency, phase noise, and power requirement. The results depict that LC-VCO dissipates 10.45[Formula: see text]mW power at an operating voltage of 1.5[Formula: see text]V. The phase noise has been observed to be [Formula: see text]90[Formula: see text]dBc/Hz at 1[Formula: see text]MHz offset at 76[Formula: see text]GHz carrier frequency. The estimated layout area of IC is [Formula: see text]m2. The result shows the edge of the design over existing techniques.

On the Remarkable Performance of the Series-Resonance CMOS Oscillator

Common harmonic oscillator topologies, such as class-B and class-C, are typically unable to meet ultra stringent phase noise requirements, due to the exceedingly large capacitance (and, symmetrically, low inductance) that would be required in the parallel resonator. In this paper, we show that an oscillator making use of series resonators is ideally able to overcome this limitation, with the additional, surprising benefit that the phase noise contribution from the active oscillator core can be made negligible, provided that very good MOS switches are available.

Analysis and Design of a Multi-Core Oscillator for Ultra-Low Phase Noise

In this paper, we exploit an idea of coupling multiple oscillators to reduce phase noise (PN) to beyond the limit of what has been practically achievable so far in a bulk CMOS technology. We then apply it to demonstrate for the first time an RF oscillator that meets the most stringent PN requirements of cellular basestation receivers while abiding by the process technology reliability rules. The oscillator is realized in digital 65-nm CMOS as a dual-core LC-tank oscillator based on a high-swing class-C topology. It is tunable within 4.07–4.91 GHz, while drawing 39–59 mA from a 2.15 V power supply. The measured PN is $-$ 146.7 dBc/Hz and $-$ 163.1 dBc/Hz at 3 MHz and 20 MHz offset, respectively, from a 4.07 GHz carrier, which makes it the lowest reported normalized PN of an integrated CMOS oscillator. Straightforward expressions for PN and interconnect resistance between the cores are derived and verified against circuit simulations and measurements. Analysis and simulations show that the interconnect resistance is not critical even with a 1% mismatch between the cores. This approach can be extended to a higher number of cores and achieve an arbitrary reduction in PN at the cost of the power and area.

Sub-mW Current Re-Use Receiver Front-End for Wireless Sensor Network Applications

In this paper, a receiver front-end tailored to Bluetooth Low Energy applications is presented. In the proposed solution, the LNA, mixers, VCO, quadrature scheme and the first stage of the analog base-band share the same bias current under a 0.8 V voltage supply leading to a sub-mW power consumption. A channel selection filter, implemented through a current re-use gm-C topology, completes the design. The presented prototype, realized in 130 nm CMOS technology, occupies an active area of 0.25 mm $^{2}$ while consuming only 0.6 mW. With a NF of 15.8 dB, an IIP3 of $-$ 17 dBm at the maximum gain and an image rejection above 30 dB the receiver front-end meets BLE noise figure, image rejection, phase noise and linearity requirements.

Multiple trellis-coded modulation, per-survivor processing and Reed–Solomon coding in the presence of phase noise

The aim of this paper is to consider trellis coded modulation (TCM) in the presence of phase noise. The starting point is a two-dimensional 32 point cross (32-CR) signal set that has served as a benchmark for other power and bandwidth efficient modulation schemes. Per-survivor processing (PSP) is used for carrier phase estimation, and both the phase acquisition (transient state) and phase tracking (steady state) performances are considered in an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel, in which phase offset or time varying phase noise is introduced. Based on the theoretical and simulation results it can be said that the 32-CR constellation is itself more sensitive to a phase error rather than the PSP algorithm. Due to the phase error the TCM scheme becomes a catastrophic code. Possible solutions include stringent phase noise requirements for oscillators, multiple trellis-coded modulation (MTCM) and concatenated TCM and Reed–Solomon (RS) coding. Our simulation results show that a simple combined MTCM, PSP and RS scheme has around 3 dB advantage compared to the pure TCM and PSP in the presence of phase noise. A semianalytical approach is used for performance evaluation, and the method is a particularly convenient tool to determine the rate of RS coding in detail.

An Ultra-Low Phase Noise CMOS VCO Design Technique for Mobile Applications

ABSTRACTThis paper describes an ultra-low phase noise complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) design technique targeted for GSM 900 and DCS 1800 base station (BTS) receiver, which require the toughest phase noise performance between 600 kHz and 3 MHz offset frequency. The proposed VCO suppresses the phase noise by three mechanisms; removes the current source, the main noise contributor in the VCO; includes double tuned resonators to prevent the switching pair from entering the triode region; filters out the second harmonic noise with a small size inductor at the common mode node of the VCO. The feasibility of the proposed VCO is verified using a 65 nm CMOS technology. Operating at around 3.6 GHz frequency range, the VCO is designed to meet the phase noise requirement of micro BTS and normal BTS. The proposed VCO consumes 27 mW dc power from a 0.7 V supply, and achieves the best figure-of-merit of −201dBc/Hz at 3 MHz offset.

Simplified RF Carrier Extraction and Reuse in OFDM Radio-Over-Fiber Systems

We propose and experimentally demonstrate techniques for efficient RF carrier extraction and reuse in an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) radio-over-fiber (RoF) system. In this system, an RF carrier is generated in the base station through optical heterodyning between two uncorrelated optical carriers delivered from the central office. The RF down conversion is accomplished by mixing the intermediate frequency signal with the extracted RF carrier. This not only relaxes the phase noise requirement on the RF carrier, but also minimizes signal-signal beat interference. We demonstrate an RoF network carrying 8.2 Gb/s QPSK data in OFDM modulation format for both downlink and uplink, which share the same RF carrier, which avoids the need of an additional RF oscillator in the customer unit.

A phase-noise reduction technique for RF CMOS voltage-controlled oscillator with a series LC resonator

This paper proposes a novel phase-noise reduction technique for high performance voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) using a cross-coupled series LC resonator, rather than parallel LC resonator. The proposed technique makes a time difference between the zero crossing point of the drain node voltages and that of the gate node voltages of the switching pair. By adding cross coupled PMOS loading, the drain voltages are made close to a rectangular shape, which makes an ideal on–off switching of the VCO. Since the current source contributes large portion of noise to the output, it is removed in the proposed VCO to further improve the noise performance. While the series connected inductor and capacitor enhances the fundamental frequency swing at the LC connection node, it gives a cleaner spectral purity output and suppresses the overall noise at the drain node of the cross-coupled switching cell.The proposed technique is verified using a 65nm CMOS process with the VCO operating at around 3.6GHz frequency range. The post-layout phase noise of the VCO is −123dBc/Hz, −126dBc/Hz, and −137dBc/Hz at 600kHz, 800kHz, and 3MHz offset frequencies, respectively, which satisfy the stringent phase noise requirements such as GSM standards operating at 900-MHz, 1800-MHz and 1900-MHz band. The proposed VCO consumes 5.6mW dc power from a 1-V supply. The proposed VCO achieves the calculated figure-of-merit (FOM) of −201dBc/Hz at 3MHz offset.

Uncorrelated Phase Noise Analysis for Millimeter-Wave Radiometer Imager Frequency Synthesizer

In this paper, a nontrivial uncorrelated phase noise analysis is proposed for frequency synthesizer of a passive millimeter-wave Synthetic Aperture Interferometric Radiometer (SAIR) imager named BHU-2D-U designed for concealed weapon detections on human bodies with high imaging rates. This synthesizer provides local oscillators both for millimeter-wave front-ends and intermediate frequency IQ demodulators for the receivers. The influence of synthesizer uncorrelated phase noise in different offset frequency ranges on the visibility phase errors have been systematically investigated with phase noise mismatch requirements drawn. Integrated RMS phase error has been applied to establish uncorrelated phase noise requirements for visibility error control. Measurement results have proved that uncorrelated phase noise does exist among synthesizer output pairs, and the previously defined requirements are achieved with imaging results proposed. In conclusion, the uncorrelated phase noise effects on SAIR visibility errors have been concretized to phase noise design requirements, which have been realized by synthesizer design. DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/telkomnika.v12i2.3844

LOCAL OSCILLATOR UNCORRELATED PHASE NOISE ANALYSIS FOR MILLIMETER-WAVE PASSIVE IMAGER BHU-2D FREQUENCY SYNTHESIZER

In this paper, a nontrivial local oscillator uncorrelated phase noise analysis is proposed for frequency synthesizer of a pas- sive millimeter-wave Synthetic Aperture Interferometric Radiometer (SAIR) imager BHU-2D designed for concealed weapon detections on human bodies with high imaging rates. The frequency synthesizer pro- vides local oscillator signals for both millimeter-wave front-ends and intermediate frequency I/Q demodulators for the receivers. The in- ∞uence of local oscillator uncorrelated phase noise in difierent ofiset frequency ranges on the visibility phase errors have been systemati- cally investigated, and the corresponding system-level visibility speci- flcations are drawn. The integrated RMS phase error has been applied to set uncorrelated phase noise requirements in the most critical ofiset frequency range for visibility error control. The synthesizer design is given, and measurement results have proved that the visibility phase error requirement is achieved by the PN analysis method proposed with system-level visibility error tests performed. To conclude, the phase noise efiects on SAIR visibility phase errors are investigated by the- ory, and are properly limited by the PN requirement analysis method to ensure that the system-level visibility phase error speciflcation is satisfled.

A Differential Digitally Controlled Crystal Oscillator With a 14-Bit Tuning Resolution and Sine Wave Outputs for Cellular Applications

This paper describes the design topologies and considerations of a differential sinusoidal-output digitally controlled crystal oscillator (DCXO) intended for use in cellular applications. The oscillator has a fine-tuning range of <formula formulatype="inline" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex Notation="TeX">${\pm}$</tex></formula> 44 ppm, approximately 14 bits of resolution, and an average step size of 0.005 ppm. All signals connecting externally to I/O pins are sine waves for reducing noise, interference, and spurs couplings. The 26 MHz DCXO fabricated in 65 nm CMOS achieves a phase noise of <formula formulatype="inline" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex Notation="TeX">${-}$</tex></formula> 149.1 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz offset measured at the sine wave buffer output. The DCXO is capable of meeting the stringent phase noise requirements for IEEE 802.11n 5 GHz WLAN devices. A typical frequency pulling of 0.01 ppm due to turning on/off the sine wave buffer is measured. The DCXO dissipates 1.2 mA of current, whereas each sine wave output buffer draws 1.4 mA. The DXCO occupies a total silicon area of 0.15 mm <formula formulatype="inline" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex Notation="TeX">$^{2}$</tex> </formula> .

A TX VCO for WCDMA/EDGE in 90 nm RF CMOS

A VCO is implemented in an RF 90 nm CMOS process and covers the frequency range 2.55-4.08 GHz. Drawing 19 mA from 1.2 V, the phase noise at 20 MHz frequency offset from a 3.7 GHz carrier is -156 dBc/Hz, meeting the phase noise requirement for GSM/EDGE and SAW-less WCDMA transmitter after frequency division by 2 or by 4. A second version of the VCO covers an additional 4.90-5.75 GHz range, at the expense of a higher phase noise in the added band. In this way, all currently operational WCDMA/EDGE bands can be synthesized by a single VCO working at the double or quadruple of the desired band.

A 76 dB$\Omega $ 1.7 GHz 0.18 $\mu$m CMOS Tunable TIA Using Broadband Current Pre-Amplifier for High Frequency Lateral MEMS Oscillators

This paper reports on the design and characterization of a high-gain tunable transimpedance amplifier (TIA) suitable for gigahertz oscillators that use high-Q lateral micromechanical resonators with large motional resistance and large shunt parasitic capacitance. The TIA consists of a low-power broadband current pre-amplifler combined with a current-to-voltage conversion stage to boost the input current before delivering it to feedback voltage amplifiers. Using this approach, the TIA achieves a constant gain of 76 dB-Ohm up to 1.7 GHz when connected to a 2 pF load at the input and output with an input-referred noise below 10 pA/√(Hz) in the 100 MHz to 1 GHz range. The TIA is fabricated in a 1P6M 0.18 μm CMOS process and consumes 7.2 mW. To demonstrate its performance in high frequency lateral micromechanical oscillator applications, the TIA is wirebonded to a 724 MHz high-motional resistance (Q <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">unloaded</sub> ≈ 2000, R <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">m</sub> ≈ 750 Ω, C <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">P</sub> ≈ 2 pF) and a 1.006 GHz high-parasitic (Q <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">unloaded</sub> ≈ 7100, R <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">m</sub> ≈ 150 Ω, C <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">P</sub> ≈ 3.2 pF) AIN-on-Silicon resonator. The 724 MHz and 1.006 GHz oscillators achieve phase-noise better than -87 dBc/Hz and -94 dBc/Hz @ 1 kHz offset, respectively, with a floor around -154 dBc/Hz. The 1.006 GHz oscillator achieves the highest reported figure of merit (FoM) among lateral piezoelectric micromechanical oscillators and meets the phase-noise requirements for most 2G and 3G cellular standards including GSM 900 MHz, GSM 1800 MHz, and HSDPA.