6.

776 High Speed Communication Circuits and Systems Lecture 15 VCO Examples Mixers
Massachusetts Institute of Technology March 31, 2005
Copyright 2005 by Hae-Seung Lee and Michael H. Perrott

Voltage Controlled Oscillators (VCOs)

L Vout M1 Vs M2 Vout

L1 Vout Cvar Vcont

L2

Vbias
Cvar

M1

C1 V1

Ibias
Vcont

Ibias

Cvar

Include a tuning element to adjust oscillation frequency

- Typically use a variable capacitor (varactor)

(transistor junctions, interconnect, etc.) Fixed cap lowers frequency tuning range

Varactor replaces (part of) fixed capacitance

- Note that some fixed capacitance cannot be removed

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Model for Voltage to Frequency Mapping of VCO

T=1/Fvco L1 Vout Cvar Vcont Vin Vbias M1 Vs L2 Vout M2 Cvar

VCO frequency versus Vcont Fvco Fout slope=Kv Vin Vbias Vcont

fo

Ibias

Model VCO in a small signal manner by looking at deviations in frequency about the bias point
output frequency

- Assume linear relationship between input voltage and

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Model for Voltage to Phase Mapping of VCO

Phase is more convenient than frequency for analysis

- The two are related through an integral relationship

Intuition of integral relationship between frequency and phase

1/Fvco= out(t) out(t) 1/Fvco= +

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Frequency Domain Model of VCO

Take Laplace Transform of phase relationship

T=1/Fvco

- Note that K
L1 Vout

is in units of Hz/V
L2 Vout M2 Vs Cvar vin

Frequency Domain VCO Model

Cvar Vcont Vin Vbias

M1

2Kv s

out

Ibias

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Varactor Implementation Diode Version

Consists of a reverse biased diode junction

- Variable capacitor formed by depletion capacitance - Capacitance drops as roughly the square root of the
bias voltage

Advantage can be fully integrated in CMOS Disadvantages low Q (often < 20), and low tuning range ( 20%)
V+ VP+ N+ N- n-well P- substrate

Cvar

V+

V-

Depletion Region

V+-V-

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A Recently Popular Approach The MOS Varactor

Consists of a MOS transistor (NMOS or PMOS) with drain and source connected together Advantage easily integrated in CMOS Disadvantage Q is relatively low in the transition region
region will be swept across each VCO cycle

- Abrupt change in capacitance as inversion channel forms - Note that large signal is applied to varactor transition

Watch out for gate-to-bulk capacitance!

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A Recently Popular Approach The MOS Varactor

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A Method To Increase Q of MOS Varactor

to VCO

Cvar

C W/L LSB

2C 2W/L

4C W/L 4W/L

MSB

Vcontrol

Overall Capacitance

000 001 010 011 Coarse 100 Control 101 110 111

Vcontrol Fine Control

Coarse Control

Fine Control

High Q metal caps are switched in to provide coarse tuning Low Q MOS varactor used to obtain fine tuning See Hegazi et. al., A Filtering Technique to Lower LC Oscillator Phase Noise, JSSC, Dec 2001, pp 1921-1930
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Supply Pulling and Pushing

L1 Vout Cvar Vcont M1 Vs M2 L2 Vout L Vout

Vbias
Cvar

M1

C1 V1

Ibias
Vcont

Ibias

Cvar

Supply voltage has an impact on the VCO frequency

- Voltage across varactor will vary, thereby causing a shift in its capacitance - Voltage across transistor drain junctions will vary,
thereby causing a shift in its depletion capacitance

This problem is addressed by building a supply regulator specifically for the VCO
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Injection Locking in Oscillators

Recall Barkhausens Criteria

x=0 e H(jw) y Barkhausen Criteria e(t)

Closed loop transfer function

Asin(wot) H(jwo) = 1

Self-sustaining oscillation at frequency o if

Asin(wot) y(t)

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Injection Locking Mechanism

With the input x=0, the selfsustaining oscillation occurs at o because At frequency small deviation away from o, the magnitude of G(j) is still very large So, what if the input x is a nonzero signal at o+? If the circuit is purely linear, the output y will contain both the oscillation at o and the amplified input at o+ (superposition)
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Injection Locking, Cntd

Output Oscillator

Adjustment of Gm

Peak Detector

Desired Peak Value

In a real oscillator, the transfer function is non-linear to keep the amplitude constant (either by amplitude feedback or saturating Gm characteristic) But, lets first look at what happens if the oscillator transfer function is linear and if a small amplitude signal is injected at the input x

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Intuitive Look at Injection Locking, Linear Case

Lets conceptually make the oscillator transfer function linear by letting the output reach a desired amplitude (say 1V) and disengaging the amplitude feedback after sampling and holding the Gm adjustment voltage at that level The value of Gm is precisely that would make at that point Assuming nothing drifts, the output would be a constant amplitude oscillation at o Next, lets see what happens if we inject a sinusoidal signal with a small amplitude, say 10mV, at o+ at input x |G(j)| is very large at this frequency lets say |G(j)| =10,000 at =o+ The output will be the superposition of 1V sinusoid at o and a 100V sinusoid at o+
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Intuitive Look at Injection Locking, Nonlinear Case

If the amplitude feedback is re-engaged, it will lower Gm to keep the total amplitude at the desired 1V level. This value of Gm would adjusted be far below whats necessary to sustain oscillation at o Thus, only the sinusoid at o+ will appear at the output with an amplitude of 1V. The VCO frequency is hence locked to the input frequency o+ rather than oscillating at the free running frequency of o The injection locking phenomenon can be exploited as an alternative to phase-locked loops (See Tom Lees book, pp563-566, or p439, 1st, ed.) Otherwise, the injection locking is troublesome

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Example of Undesired Injection Locking

For homodyne systems, VCO frequency can be very close to that of interferers
RF in(w)
Interferer Desired Narrowband Signal
W

LNA
RF in

Mixer

wint wo LO frequency

LO signal Vin

- Injection locking can happen if inadequate isolation

from mixer RF input to LO port

Follow VCO with a buffer stage with high reverse isolation to alleviate this problem

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

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Recent VCO Techniques

Gm-boosted VCO for lower phase noise Recall gm-boosted LNA lowered noise factor:
Vdd Ld C1 Out M2 M1 In LP k T1 Ls VB
Figure by MIT OCW.

C2

The apparent gm boost is is the result of the gate and source having 180o out-of-phase waveforms (it increases Vgs).
H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott MIT OCW

Gm-Boosted VCO

Similar concept can be employed for VCOs to lower phase noise. Transformer coupling is possible, but takes up area. Can boost gm just by feeding output back to source
A
L1 Vdd VB L2

Vdd Vctrl

V+ C1 C2

VC1 C2

V+ C1 C2

VC1 C2

M1 IB IB

M2

M1 IB

M2 IB

basic concept

self-biased VCO

Figure by MIT OCW.

See Xiaoyong Li et. al., Low-Power gm-boosted LNA and VCO Circuits in 0.18m CMOS 2005 ISSCC Digest of Technical Papers pp. 534-353 H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott MIT OCW

Wide Tune Range VCO

Davide Guermandi , et. al A 0.75 to 2.2GHz ContinuouslyTunable Quadrature VCO, Digest of Technical Papers, 2005 ISSCC pp 536-537
SSBM Q QVCO I Q C I Div2 "1" "0" A => 1/3 Fvco [0.74 GHz - 1.1 GHz] A B => 1/2 Fvco [1.1 GHz - 1.65 GHz] C => 2/3 Fvco [1.49 GHz - 2.2 GHz] Div2 Iout Qout Fout = [0.74 GHz - 2.2 GHz] + 50% 1.47 GHz -

Fvco = [2.2 GHz - 3.3 GHz] + 20% 2.75 GHz -

Figure by MIT OCW.

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

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Wide Tune Range VCO, Continued

VCO, Divider and SSBM Circuits

Vdd Vdd L L L L C Vs2 Mc Vbias Load R2 Q D CK
Wrw MP

R1 R2

MP

R1 Q

C Vs1 Mc

C C

Wrw

Wck B1
Io Io

Wck B2

CK

Quadrature VCO

Balanced Modulator
Figure by MIT OCW.

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

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Very High Frequency VCO

/4 short stub for 114GHz VDD Vpp(114GHz)

Ping Chen, et. al. A 114GHz VCO in 0.13m CMOS Technology, 2005 ISSCC Digest of Technical Papers pp. 404-405

Vo (57GHz)

Ld2 Cvar2

Vctrl Ld1 Ztank Zactive VG Rg Lg1 Cvar1

+ Vo (57GHz)

Buffer

Buffer

Lg2 M2

M1 Cs2 Cs1

Ls2

Ls1
Figure by MIT OCW.

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

MIT OCW

Recent VCO Techniques

R. Aparicio
and A. Hajimiri, Circular Geometry Oscillators, ISSCC 2004 Digest of Technical Papers, pp378-379
VDD VDD

C P1 L VDD P2

+
L
Oscillator core

Oscillator core Extra inductance and loss

VDD

+
VDD

+
L

Slab inductors offer higher Q than spiral/circular inductors due to

less current crowding and less substrate loss In a conventional oscillator topology, the interconnect adds undesired inductance with loss Circular geometry oscillator removes this problem

Figure by MIT OCW.

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

MIT OCW

Circular Oscillator Implementation

VDD VDD

Virtual Ground

- L/2
-

L/2 +

DD

Virtual Ground Point

L/2 L/2

L'

L/2 L/2

L'
V

L'

VDD VDD

+
Oscillator core

+ L/2

L/2

Figure by MIT OCW.

Shorts the outputs at DC to remove stable DC operating point Shorts outputs at even harmonics to suppress undesired modes
H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott MIT OCW

DD

L'

Die Photo and Measured Results

0.9 mm

Pick up loop
O SC

Circular-Geometry Oscillator
Technology Channel Length Center Frequency

O SC

Single Frequency

VCO

Cross I mm

SiGe 7HP (CMOS transistors only) 0.18m 5.35GHz ---1dBm 1.4V 10mA 1.8V 12mA 5.36GHz 8.3%

SC

Tuning Range Output Power

Buffer

BIAS

Output

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

SC

Vdd Ibias

BIAS
Figure by MIT OCW.

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Circular Standing Wave Oscillator

D. Ham and W. Andress ISSCC 2004 Digest of Technical Papers, pp380-381

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

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Standing Wave Oscillators

Energy Injection /4 standing wave oscillator (SWO)** Reflection

Short

Reflection

Reflection

Reflective boundaries

Short

Short

Reflection

Reflection

/2 SWO [4][5]

Short

Short

Figure by MIT OCW.

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

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Ring Transmission Line Principle

E (energy injection) Wave superposition

V() ~ e-jr + ejr ~ cos(r)

e-jr e jr

Standing wave formation Periodic boundary condition

+2

V() = V(+2)

Standing wave modes

l = n (n = 1, 2, 3,....)

Differential ring t-line

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

Figure by MIT OCW.

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Circular Standing Wave Oscillator (CSWO)

T1 L T2 CSWO PSD at port T1-T2

L1 L2

R1 R2

20

30

After even-mode suppression B2 L B1 L: Loud Q: Quiet Even-mode suppression connection KEY

20

30

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

Figure by MIT OCW.

MIT OCW

Die Photo and Measurement Set up

Agilent E4448A Spectrum Analyzer Vdd

RF probing Bias-Tee 50 RF probing

L Q L Q

Open-collector buffer
S+ G S-

2.1 mm CSWO core

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

Figure by MIT OCW.

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Mixers

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Mixer Design for Wireless Systems

Zin

From Antenna and Bandpass Filter

PC board trace

Mixer Package Interface RF in LNA IF out To Filter

Zo

Design Issues

- Noise Figure impacts receiver sensitivity - Linearity (IIP3) impacts receiver blocking performance - Conversion gain lowers noise impact of following stages - Power match want max voltage gain rather than power match for integrated designs - Power want low power dissipation - Isolation want to minimize interaction between the RF, IF, and LO ports - Sensitivity to process/temp variations need to make it
manufacturable in high volume
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Local Oscillator Output

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

Ideal Mixer Behavior

RF in(f) Desired channel Channel Filter RF in IF out

-fo

fo f

f
Local Oscillator Output = 2cos(2fot) Undesired component IF out(f) Undesired component

LO out(f)

-fo

fo

-fo

-f 0 f

fo

RF spectrum converted to a lower IF center frequency

- IF stands for intermediate frequency

If IF frequency is nonzero heterodyne or low IF receiver If IF frequency is zero homodyne receiver

Use a filter at the IF output to remove undesired high frequency components

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The Issue of Image Aliasing

RF in(f) Image Desired Interferer channel

RF in

IF out

-fo

fo -f f

f
Local Oscillator Output = 2cos(2fot) IF out(f)

LO out(f)

-fo

fo

-fo

-f 0 f

fo

When the IF frequency is nonzero, there is an image band for a given desired channel band

- Frequency content in image band will combine with that of the desired channel at the IF output - The impact of the image interference cannot be removed
through filtering at the IF output!
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LO Feedthrough
RF in(f) Image Desired Interferer channel RF in IF out LO feedthrough Local Oscillator Output = 2cos(2fot) IF out(f)

-fo

fo -f f

LO out(f)

LO feedthrough

-fo

fo

-fo

-f 0 f

fo

LO feedthrough will occur from the LO port to IF output port due to parasitic capacitance, power supply coupling, etc.

- Often significant since LO output much higher than RF signal

If large, can potentially desensitize the receiver due to the extra dynamic range consumed at the IF output If small, can generally be removed by filter at IF output
H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott MIT OCW

Reverse LO Feedthrough
RF in(f) Reverse LO feedthrough Image Desired Interferer channel

RF in Reverse LO feedthrough

IF out LO feedthrough

-fo

fo -f f

Local Oscillator Output = 2cos(2fot) IF out(f)

LO out(f)

LO feedthrough

-fo

fo

-fo

-f 0 f

fo

Reverse LO feedthrough will occur from the LO port to RF input port due to parasitic capacitance, etc.

- If large, and LNA doesnt provide adequate isolation, then LO energy can leak out of antenna and violate emission standards for radio Must insure that isolate to antenna is adequate

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Self-Mixing of Reverse LO Feedthrough

RF in(f) Reverse LO feedthrough Image Desired Interferer channel

RF in Reverse LO feedthrough

IF out LO feedthrough

-fo

fo -f f

Local Oscillator Output = 2cos(2fot) IF out(f)

Self-mixing of reverse LO feedthrough LO feedthrough

LO out(f)

-fo

fo

-fo

-f 0 f

fo

LO component in the RF input can pass back through the mixer and be modulated by the LO signal

- DC and 2f component created at IF output - Of no consequence for a heterodyne system, but can
o

cause problems for homodyne systems (i.e., zero IF)

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott MIT OCW

Removal of Image Interference Solution 1

Reverse LO feedthrough Image Desired Interferer channel Image Rejection Filter RF in IF out

RF in(f)

-fo

fo -f f

f
Local Oscillator Output = 2cos(2fot) IF out(f) Self-mixing of reverse LO feedthrough LO feedthrough

LO out(f)

-fo

fo

-fo

-f 0 f

fo

- Filter bandwidth must be large enough to pass all channels Filter Q cannot be arbitrarily large (low IF requires high Q) H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott MIT OCW

An image reject filter can be used before the mixer to prevent the image content from aliasing into the desired channel at the IF output Issue must have a high IF frequency

Removal of Image Interference Solution 2

RF in(f) Reverse LO feedthrough Desired channel

RF in Reverse LO feedthrough

IF out LO feedthrough

-fo

fo f=0

LO out(f)

Local Oscillator Output = 2cos(2fot) IF out(f)

Self-mixing of reverse LO feedthrough LO feedthrough

-fo

fo

-fo

fo

Mix directly down to baseband (i.e., homodyne approach)

- With an IF frequency of zero, there is no image band

- DC term of LO feedthrough can corrupt signal if time-varying - DC offsets can swamp out dynamic range at IF output 1/f noise, back radiation through antenna H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott MIT OCW

Issues many!

Removal of Image Interference Solution 3, Image Reject Mixer

RF r(t) y(t) Balanced modulator

Local Oscillator -90o phase shifter

LPF or BPF IF Output

Balanced modulator z(t)

-90o phase shifter

^ z(t)

Image rejected by similar method to SSB generation Image rejection limited by amplitude and phase matching of RF and LO paths. 40 dB image suppression is typical RF filter can reduce the image further if necessary, otherwise the RF image reject filter can be omitted.
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Frequency Domain View of Image Reject Mixer

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Frequency Domain View of Image Reject Mixer, Cntd

It can be shown that image is rejected regardless of the RF input phase

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