mm-Wave Oscillator Design

High-performance, low-phase-noise oscillators are heavily demanded by high throughput and high-fidelity mm-wave wireless transceivers. After briefly introducing the oscillator’s performance matrix and key Figure of Merit (FoM), this tutorial will describe the reactive-load design, namely inductors/transformers and tunable capacitors, for achieving high quality factor and illuminating the design challenge for mm-wave oscillators. It will introduce various oscillator topologies to reduce phase noise, such as Class-C and harmonic shaping. The tutorial will also cover the multi-core synchronized oscillator, which provides an opportunity for further reducing phase noise. Means to extend the tuning range of multi-core oscillators at mm-wave frequencies with the aid of mode-switching and multi-resonance techniques will also be presented.