Chapter 6

Oscillators

Oscillators are intriguing building blocks. An oscillator is one of the very few building
blocks in a transceiver that has a built-in timing reference. When the power supply is
switched on, DC power is somehow translated into a periodic signal, which forms the
heartbeat of many systems. Ongoing world-wide research contributed to the design of
low phase noise oscillators, which makes it more and more a science rather than an
art. Advances in IC-technology, especially in passives, have simplified complete oscil-
lator integration. This chapter starts by discussing oscillator basics and specifications.
Behavioral models, properties and circuit topologies of LC and RC oscillators are then
highlighted. The chapter ends by discussing two monolithic oscillator realizations.

6.1 INTRODUCTION
This section starts by discussing the ideal oscillator, followed by an oscillator
with non-idealities which are encountered in practice. The third part highlights a
practical oscillator classification. This section ends by discussing the oscillation
conditions and amplitude stabilization mechanisms.

6.1.1 The Ideal Oscillator

The basic function of an oscillator is to generate a periodic signal with certain
properties. An ideal oscillator generates a signal which only has wanted prop-
erties. The output of an ideal harmonic oscillator (Figure 6.1(a)) with angular
frequency and peak amplitude [V] can be written as

In the frequency domain, this is equivalent to a discrete spectral line with height
at angular frequency This means that all carrier power is located
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186 CIRCUIT DESIGN FOR RF TRANSCEIVERS

in an infinitely small bandwidth around A tunable ideal oscillator (Figure

6.1(b)) can be represented by (6.2).

In (6.2) the initial phase of is assumed to be zero. Tuning voltage

[V] controls the frequency, and tuning constant determines the
tuning slope. is the oscillation frequency with a zero tuning voltage.
Equation (6.2) does not include the “integrating” property of a controlled oscil-
lator. The phase is the integral of the oscillator frequency with respect to time.
Use of (6.2) for non-continuous results in phase jumps in the oscillator
output signal. The following expression models a practical oscillator more ac-
curately. The output phase is always continuous, even if a non-continuous
is modulating the oscillator:

As the tuning input is a voltage, the oscillator in Figure 6.1(b) is a Voltage

Controlled Oscillator (VCO). In the case of a Current Controlled Oscillator
(CCO), the tuning constant will have the unit [Hz/A]. Instead ofgenerating
one output signal, the VCO in this figure generates a sine and a cosine. Many
modern receiver and transmitter architectures require these so-called “In-phase
and Quadrature” (I/Q) signals in their signal-processing part.

6.1.2 The Non-ideal Oscillator

In practice, anything that can change will change due to non-idealities. The
oscillator and its properties are no exception. An oscillator will never have
the exact center frequency required, due to the processing spread in the IC
process. Some additional tuning range will therefore always be required on