Introduction to

RF VCO Design
Sung Tae Moon
Nov. 2004
Anal og and Mi x ed-Si gnal Cent er
A M S C
2
Contents
n Introduction
n VCO design procedure
n Quadrature generators
n Measurement
n Inductor measurement using microprobe
3
Introduction to VCO
n VCO stands for Voltage Controlled Oscillator.
n VCO is an Oscillator of which frequency can
be Controlled by external Voltage stimulus.
V
c
V
o
control voltage output signal
VCO
4
VCO in Frequency Synthesizer
n One of major applications for VCO is a frequency
synthesizer.
n Frequency synthesizer provides sinusoidal/pulse
signals at predetermined frequencies that is
precisely controllable by digital words.
n Frequency synthesizer is a core building block of
any system that has to work at multiple frequencies
such as wireless communication transceivers.
5
VCO in Frequency Synthesizer cont.
n Frequency synthesizer usually consists of a
VCO, a PLL and a frequency divider.
V
c
V
o
phase lock loop
output signal
VCO
PLL
%N
frequency divider
f
ref
6
Requirements for VCO Design
n Frequency tuning range
q Tuning range must cover the entire band of operation.
n Phase noise
q Close to the oscillation frequency due to spontaneous jitter.
n Harmonic distortion
q Spectral impurity of the signal
n Signal power
q Must be high enough to drive the load.
n Power consumption
7
VCO for Bluetooth transceiver
n Frequency tuning range : 2.402 ~ 2.479GHz
n Phase noise : -128dBc/Hz@3MHz
n Harmonic distortion : less than 20dB
n Signal power : more 0dBm
n Power consumption : less than 8mA
8
Procedure 1. Specification Study
n Relatively low tuning range : 3.3%
n High frequency of oscillation : >2.4GHz
n Very high phase noise requirement
LC tuned oscillator is most suitable
9
Procedure 2. LC Tuned Oscillator
n Oscillation frequency is
tuned by resonant frequency
of LC tank.
n Cross-coupled transistors
work as a negative
resistance that sustains
oscillation by compensating
loss in the LC tank.
n Frequency is controlled by
varying the capacitance of
the tank.
g
m
L C R
-R
L
C
M1 M2
LC
o
1

10
Procedure 3. On-chip Inductor
n Specifications
q L = 2nH
q Q > 5
n On-chip spiral inductor
must be simulated with
EM(Electro-Magnetic)
simulator such as
ASITIC.
R
L
Q

R L
ASITIC EM simulator
11
Inductance and Q
area Metal 1
width Metal
area Total area Metal
_

resonant self
f
Q
L
n Q can be improved by increasing metal width.
n To keep L same, total area has to be increased.
n Increased metal area reduces self resonant
frequency
12
Procedure 4. MOSFET Varactor
n Back gate controlled PMOS varactor
n Accumulation mode
n Depletion mode
V
BG
< 0
G
p
+
p
+
n
B
G
B
C
ox
G
B
0 < V
BG
< V
th
G
p
+
p
+
n
B
G
B
C
ox
G
B
C
d
13
Procedure 4. MOSFET Varactor (cont.)
n Inversion mode
V
BG
> V
th
G
p
+
p
+
n
B
G
B
C
ox
G
B
14
Procedure 4. MOSFET Varactor (cont.)
n Accumulation/Depletion only varactor
n Inversion only varactor
G
n
+
n
+
n
B
G
V
B
= V
DD
15
Procedure 5. Active Elements
n g
m
of the cross-coupled MOS pairs must be
high enough to compensate the loss of the
tank.
n It is a good idea to have plenty of margin in
design.
n The length of the transistors must be
minimum in order to minimize parasitics.
16
Procedure 5. Active Elements (cont.)
n Sources of the loss
q Quality of L (Q
L
)
q Quality of C (Q
C
)
q Output impedance of the
transistor. (g
o
)
n Gm of the transistor must
be larger than total loss.
n is safety margin for
starting oscillation.
g
m
C
1/g
o
-R
L
R
L
R
C
3
1
,
1
>

'

'

+ + >

C o
C
L
o
L
C
o
o L
o m
CR
Q
R
L
Q
Q
C
L Q
g g
17
Series-parallel conversion
n Only valid close to resonant frequency
C
L
R
S
C L R
P
2
2
) (
L
P
P
o
S
Q
R
R
L
R

S L
S
o
P
R Q
R
L
R
2
2
) (


18
Phase Noise
n Phase noise is uncertainty of center
frequency of VCO output
n The spectrum looks as if it has finite power in
certain frequency offset away from the center
frequency
n In time domain, phase noise is also referred
to as timing jitter
19
Phase Noise (cont.)
n Signal amplitude
n Noise power
n Phase noise
S L tail
S
o tail
P tail A
R Q I
R
L I
R I V
2
2
) (


2
2
2
2
2
2
4
4

,
`

.
|

,
`

.
|

o
S L m
o
L
P m
n
R Q g kT
Q
R g kT
v
2
2 2 2
2
8 8

,
`

.
|

o
tail
m
A
n
L
Q I
g kT
V
v
PN
20
Phase Noise (cont.)
n Signal power can be increased either by
higher Q or by higher L
n Only high Q improves phase noise
n High power dissipation also improves phase
noise
21
Quadrature Signal Generation 1
n Two identical coupled
oscillators
q Immune to mismatch -
the coupled oscillators
synchronize to exactly
the same frequency
q Large area and power
dissipation

I
+
I
+
Q

Q
n Lam, C.; Razavi, B. A 2.6 GHz/5.2 GHz CMOS voltage-controlled
oscillator, ISSCC, 1999, pp. 402-403
22
Quadrature Signal Generation 2
n RC-CR network
q Low power : passive
element only
q Sensitive to mismatch
q Amplitude mismatch
IN
V
2 OUT
V
1 OUT
V
n Orsatti, P.; Piazza, F.; Huang, Q., A 20-mA-receive, 55-mA-transmit, single-chip
GSM transceiver in 0.25 CMOS, JSSC, vol 34, Dec. 1999 , pp. 1869-880
23
Quadrature Signal Generation 3
n Polyphase network
q Low power
q Amplitude matching
q Insertion loss

I
+
I
+
Q

Q
+
I
V

I
V
n Parssinen, A.; Jussila, J.; Ryynanen, J.; Sumanen, L.; Halonen, K.A.I., A 2-GHz wide-band
direct conversion receiver for WCDMA applications, JSSC, vol. 34, Dec. 1999, pp. 1893-903
24
Quadrature Signal Generation 4
n Divide-by-two circuit
q Relatively immune to
mismatch
q Requires 2x frequency
oscillation which leads to
high power dissipation
Latch
Latch
IN
V
2 OUT
V
1 OUT
V
25
Layout of Bluetooth VCO
MOS
Drivers
Varactor
Spiral Inductors
Phase shifter
26
Chip Microphotograph
27
Another Layout (for 802.11b+ BT)
28
PC Board
29
Using Spectrum Analyzer
Device Under Test Matching Network
Spectrum Analyzer
FSE-K4 Phase noise
measurement software
on PCB
n A matching network to make the output impedance of
the VCO to match 50 is recommended
n The phase noise measurement can be automated by
using FSE-K4 software
30
Testing Results
n Since the frequency of oscillation is too high
for any oscilloscope available in the lab, the
spectrum analyzer is the only option for
testing the circuit.
n Measured parameters:
q Frequency tuning range : 2.37 ~ 2.72GHz
q Signal power : -12dBm
q Phase noise : -130dBc/Hz @ 3MHz
31
Testing Results
n Tuning Range
q 2.37 ~ 2.72GHz
n Phase noise
q -130dBc/Hz @ 3MHz
offset
32
Inductor Measurement using Microprobe
n Measurement instruments
q Probe Mount Station
q Microprobe (150m pitch)
q Network Analyzer (HP 8719ET)
q SMA Coaxial cable
Spiral
Inductor Pads for
microprobes
G S G
33
Calibrating Network Analyzer
Calibration
Standards
(open, short, 50,
through)
Probe
Station
Network
Analyzer
Coax
n Calibration is required to compensate the effect of
microprobes, coaxial cables and network analyzer itself.
n The effect of pads for microprobe landing cannot be
calibrated out. De-embedding after measurement is
required.
34
Measurement Setup
]
]
]

22 21
12 11
s s
s s
s-parameters
Chip
(TSMC 0.35u
Spiral inductor)
Probe
Station
Network
Analyzer
Coax
n The device under test is measured after calibration
n Network analyzer extracts the s-parameters
35
s-parameter to y-parameter Conversion
21 12 22 11
21 12 22 11
22
21
21
12
12
21 12 22 11
11
) 1 )( 1 (
) 1 )( 1 (
2
2
) 1 )( 1 (
s s s s
Z
s s s s
y
Z
s
y
Z
s
y
Z
s s s s
y
o
o
o
o
+ +

+ +

+ +

36
Modeling Inductor from y-parameter
z
L
Y
1
Y
2
Y
3
1
i
2
i
1
v
2
v
3 1
0
2
2
22
1
0
1
2
21
1
0
2
1
12
2 1
0
1
1
11
1
2
1
2
Y Y
v
i
y
Y
v
i
y
Y
v
i
y
Y Y
v
i
y
v
v
v
v
+


+

37
Conclusion
n Basic concept of VCO is discussed.
n Design procedure of a 2.4GHz VCO for
Bluetooth application is presented.
n Testing result of the circuit is provided.