Chip-Package Codesign of Integrated Voltage-Controlled Oscillator in LCP Substrate

A novel miniaturized feedback LC oscillator for UMTS-type applications in 3D stacked liquid crystalline polymer technology

“…(1), it can be concluded that an improvement in the phase noise can be expected by using higher Q passives in the resonator. Improvement in the loaded Qs can be obtained by using the cross-coupled differential oscillator [2][3][4][5][6][7] and the negative-resistance-type oscillator [8,9]. However, each of these topologies exhibit a significant amount of trade-off between the transistor transconductance and resonator size.…”

“…By selecting an inductor of the smallest size, the phase-noise requirements might be satisfied, but the startup conditions may be violated [2,3]. Additionally, in [9] it was shown that the phase noise of a low-power oscillator shows high sensitivity to variations in the resonator Q. Hence, the manufacturing (processing) variations across the total processing area may cause the phase noise to differ for oscillators of the same batch; even though the oscillator startup conditions are satisfied.…”

“…Hence, the manufacturing (processing) variations across the total processing area may cause the phase noise to differ for oscillators of the same batch; even though the oscillator startup conditions are satisfied. The above is especially true for low-power oscillators [9]. This article introduces a novel oscillator that eliminates the dependency of the startup conditions on the size of the resonator inductor, thereby simplifying the design of low-power and low-phase-noise oscillators.…”

“…A simple oscillator core design with low parasitic loading is the key to the design of a low-phase-noise oscillator in a small area. Typically the Colpitt's oscillator (both single-ended and differential) that has a simple core design has been the most favored topology to achieve low phase noise [9,12]. For a Colpitt's oscillator the authors of [9,10] have clearly demonstrated that the startup conditions are independent of the inductor size and the phase noise is limited by the parasitics of the bias circuitry.…”

“…Typically the Colpitt's oscillator (both single-ended and differential) that has a simple core design has been the most favored topology to achieve low phase noise [9,12]. For a Colpitt's oscillator the authors of [9,10] have clearly demonstrated that the startup conditions are independent of the inductor size and the phase noise is limited by the parasitics of the bias circuitry. Hence, the small form factor and limited phase noise performance of the Colpitt's oscillator makes it suitable for low-profile applications, such as WLANs (IEEE 802.11 a/b/g).…”