Getting Its Measure: Oscillator Phase Noise Measurement Techniques and Limitations

Rohde, Ulrich L.; Poddar, Ajay K.; Apte, Anisha M.

doi:10.1109/mmm.2013.2269860

Cited by 56 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 11 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…For a better understanding of the proposed phase noise measurement system, the typical delay-line-based frequency discriminator method is briefly introduced, as shown in Fig. 1 [3]. Mathematically, the SUT can be expressed as ( ) ( )…”

Section: A Typical Delay-line-based Frequency Discriminator Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wideband Microwave Phase Noise Analyzer Based on All-Optical Microwave Signal Processing

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

An approach for wideband phase noise measurement of microwave signal sources is proposed based on all-optical microwave signal processing. In the proposed scheme, an optical carrier is sequentially modulated by the signal under test (SUT) in a phase modulator and a dual-polarization modulator to generate two +1st-order sidebands with orthogonal polarizations. A time delay is introduced between two sidebands by a span of low-loss optical fiber. Combined with a polarization controller and a polarizer, photonic microwave downconversion with a desired phase shift and time delay can be realized after photodetection, and the phase noise of the SUT can be calculated thereafter. Since all the microwave signal processing functions in the conventional photonic-delay-line-based phase noise measurement system are implemented in the optical domain, the proposed scheme has a large operational bandwidth and a high measurement sensitivity. In the experimental demonstration, accurate phase noise measurement of SUTs is achieved in a frequency range of 10-35 GHz, and a phase noise floor as low as -132.16 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz is obtained.

show abstract

Section: A Typical Delay-line-based Frequency Discriminator Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wideband Microwave Phase Noise Analyzer Based on All-Optical Microwave Signal Processing

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Some established analog demodulation schemes, e.g. the delay-line frequency discriminator or the phase detector method, employ reference source and phase-locked loop (PLL) circuit techniques [15], but suffer from the aging of electronic devices, thermal drift, nonlinearity etc [16] and do not achieve the noise limits of digital demodulation. The digital in-phase and quadrature (IQ) demodulation techniques based on digital signal processor utilize the direct digitization of the carrier signal and numerical demodulation methods instead of complex electronic arrangements (mixer, PLL circuit, voltage controlled oscillator etc.)…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Demodulation of phase-modulated signals with small modulation index without digital noise limitation

Schewe²,

Bauer³

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In many communication and sensor applications, receivers digitize phase-modulated carrier signals directly by analog-to-digital converters. The obtained phase-modulated digital carrier signals are numerically demodulated in order to extract the relevant information. However, the limited dynamic range of the analog-to-digital converter may reduce the carrier-to-noise ratio of carrier signals after digitization. Correspondingly, the resolution of the demodulated digital signal is degraded. We demonstrate a sampling and demodulation scheme for phase-modulated signals with a small modulation index. Our new scheme overcomes the limitation due to digital noise defined by the analog-to-digital converter. Through simulations and experiments, we provide evidence that our method can improve the resolution of the demodulated digital signal, when the carrier-to-noise ratio of phase-modulated signals is limited by digital noise. Our proposed method is applicable, for example, to solve the problem of a possible degradation of measurement resolution after digital demodulation in heterodyne interferometers measuring small vibration amplitudes.

show abstract

“…Modern instrumental measurement of the noise performance of an oscillator can be sorted into three methodologies, namely the direct phase detection, delay-line discrimination, and digital phase demodulation [8]. The frequency and phase demodulation are particularly important and used widely for commercial instruments [9]. However, these approaches usually adopt either a delay-line homodyne [10] or a phase-lock-loop to discriminate the phase fluctuation and measure the noise [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring the Power Law Phase Noise of an RF Oscillator with a Novel Indirect Quantitative Scheme

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In conventional phase noise metrology, the phase noise of an oscillator is measured by instruments equipped with specialized and sophisticated devices. Such hardware-based testing usually requires high-performance and costly apparatuses. In this paper, we carried out a novel phase noise measurement method based on a mathematical model. The relationship between the phase noise of a radio frequency oscillator and its power spectral density (PSD) was established, different components of the power law phase noise were analyzed in the frequency domain with their characteristic parameters. Based on the complete physical model of an oscillator, we fitted and extracted the parameters for the near-carrier Gaussian and the power law PSD with Levenberg-Marquardt optimization algorithm. The fitted parameters were used to restore the power law phase noise with considerable precision. Experimental validation showed an excellent agreement between the estimation from the proposed method and the data measured by a high-performance commercial instrument. This methodology can be potentially used to realize fast and simple phase noise measurement and reduce the overall cost of hardware.

show abstract

Getting Its Measure: Oscillator Phase Noise Measurement Techniques and Limitations

Cited by 56 publications

References 11 publications

Wideband Microwave Phase Noise Analyzer Based on All-Optical Microwave Signal Processing

Wideband Microwave Phase Noise Analyzer Based on All-Optical Microwave Signal Processing

Demodulation of phase-modulated signals with small modulation index without digital noise limitation

Measuring the Power Law Phase Noise of an RF Oscillator with a Novel Indirect Quantitative Scheme

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About