Nesta dissertação é apresentado o projeto de um sintetizador de frequência atingindo as especificações dos padrões de comunicação sem-fio GSM e Bluetooth. O sintetizador é baseado em um PLL (Phase Locked Loop) de arquitetura N-fracionário com modulador . No primeiro estágio do projeto do sintetizador é proposto um algoritmo para o plano de frequências, o qual considera a caraterística multipadrão do sintetizador. O projeto dos blocos que compõem o PLL (VCO, divisores de frequência, modulador , PFD e bomba de carga) é apresentado junto com o layout e algumas simulações. A programação geométrica é aplicada ao projeto do VCO. Finalmente, é proposta uma estratégia para o projeto do filtro atingindo as especificações do sintetizador de frequência. O circuito projetado foi fabricado no processo CMOS 0,35µm da AMS (Austria Micro Systems). Todos os componentes do PLL foram integrados no chip incluindo o VCO e o filtro, e a área total foi de 0,9mm2 incluindo os pads. O circuito projetado tem um baixo consumo de potência de 14mW usando uma tens~ao de alimentação de 3V. O ruído de fase medido foi -114dBc/Hz@400kHz no caso de GSM (FOUT =902,6MHz) e -121dBc/Hz@3MHz no caso de Bluetooth (FOUT =2,44GHz). A resposta transiente do PLL quando muda desde o primeiro até o último canal para cada padrão foi testada, o lock time medido em GSM foi de 208µs e 157µs em Bluetooth. O objetivo principal do funcionamento multipadrão, que é o uso compartilhado da maioria dos blocos por todos os padrões, foi atingido. As caraterísticas de desempenho medidas mostram excelente concordância com os valores simulados, indicando o êxito das estratégias usadas no projeto, simulação e teste do sintetizador de frequência. Os resultados foram comparados com outros trabalhos publicados mostrando que o sintetizador projetado neste trabalho tem menor consumo de potência e pequena ocupação de área. / This work presents the design of a frequency synthesizer achieving the specifications of the GSM and Bluetooth standards. The frequency synthesizer is based on a PLL (Phase Locked Loop) of N-fractional architecture using a modulator. In the first step of the frequency synthesizer design an algorithm for the frequency plan, considering the multistandard characteristic of the synthesizer, was proposed. The design of the building blocks of the PLL (VCO, frequency dividers, modulator, PFD and charge pump) is presented together with the layout and some simulation results. Geometric programming was applied to the VCO design. Finally, an strategy for the filter design achieving the frequency synthesizer specifications was proposed. The designed synthesizer was fabricated in the 0.35µm CMOS process of AMS (Austria Micro Systems). All the PLL components were integrated on-chip including the VCO and the filter, the occupied area was 0.9mm2 with the pads. The designed circuit has a low power consumption of 14mW using a 3V voltage supply. The phase noise measured for GSM (FOUT =902.6MHz) was -114dBc/Hz@400kHz and for Bluetooth (FOUT =2.44GHz) was -121dBc/Hz@3MHz. The transient response of the PLL when switching from the first to the last channel for each standard was tested, the lock time measured in GSM was 208µs and 157µs in Bluetooth. The main objective of the multistandard operation sharing most of the blocks between all the standards was achieved. The measured performance characteristics show excelent agreement with the simulated values, implying that the strategies used in the design, simulation and testing of the frequency synthesizer were succesfull. The results were compared with other published works showing that the synthesizer designed in this work has a lower power consumption and smaller area.

Nesta dissertação é apresentado o projeto de um sintetizador de frequência atingindo as especificações dos padrões de comunicação sem-fio GSM e Bluetooth. O sintetizador é baseado em um PLL (Phase Locked Loop) de arquitetura N-fracionário com modulador . No primeiro estágio do projeto do sintetizador é proposto um algoritmo para o plano de frequências, o qual considera a caraterística multipadrão do sintetizador. O projeto dos blocos que compõem o PLL (VCO, divisores de frequência, modulador , PFD e bomba de carga) é apresentado junto com o layout e algumas simulações. A programação geométrica é aplicada ao projeto do VCO. Finalmente, é proposta uma estratégia para o projeto do filtro atingindo as especificações do sintetizador de frequência. O circuito projetado foi fabricado no processo CMOS 0,35µm da AMS (Austria Micro Systems). Todos os componentes do PLL foram integrados no chip incluindo o VCO e o filtro, e a área total foi de 0,9mm2 incluindo os pads. O circuito projetado tem um baixo consumo de potência de 14mW usando uma tens~ao de alimentação de 3V. O ruído de fase medido foi -114dBc/Hz@400kHz no caso de GSM (FOUT =902,6MHz) e -121dBc/Hz@3MHz no caso de Bluetooth (FOUT =2,44GHz). A resposta transiente do PLL quando muda desde o primeiro até o último canal para cada padrão foi testada, o lock time medido em GSM foi de 208µs e 157µs em Bluetooth. O objetivo principal do funcionamento multipadrão, que é o uso compartilhado da maioria dos blocos por todos os padrões, foi atingido. As caraterísticas de desempenho medidas mostram excelente concordância com os valores simulados, indicando o êxito das estratégias usadas no projeto, simulação e teste do sintetizador de frequência. Os resultados foram comparados com outros trabalhos publicados mostrando que o sintetizador projetado neste trabalho tem menor consumo de potência e pequena ocupação de área. / This work presents the design of a frequency synthesizer achieving the specifications of the GSM and Bluetooth standards. The frequency synthesizer is based on a PLL (Phase Locked Loop) of N-fractional architecture using a modulator. In the first step of the frequency synthesizer design an algorithm for the frequency plan, considering the multistandard characteristic of the synthesizer, was proposed. The design of the building blocks of the PLL (VCO, frequency dividers, modulator, PFD and charge pump) is presented together with the layout and some simulation results. Geometric programming was applied to the VCO design. Finally, an strategy for the filter design achieving the frequency synthesizer specifications was proposed. The designed synthesizer was fabricated in the 0.35µm CMOS process of AMS (Austria Micro Systems). All the PLL components were integrated on-chip including the VCO and the filter, the occupied area was 0.9mm2 with the pads. The designed circuit has a low power consumption of 14mW using a 3V voltage supply. The phase noise measured for GSM (FOUT =902.6MHz) was -114dBc/Hz@400kHz and for Bluetooth (FOUT =2.44GHz) was -121dBc/Hz@3MHz. The transient response of the PLL when switching from the first to the last channel for each standard was tested, the lock time measured in GSM was 208µs and 157µs in Bluetooth. The main objective of the multistandard operation sharing most of the blocks between all the standards was achieved. The measured performance characteristics show excelent agreement with the simulated values, implying that the strategies used in the design, simulation and testing of the frequency synthesizer were succesfull. The results were compared with other published works showing that the synthesizer designed in this work has a lower power consumption and smaller area.

Direct Digital Frequency Synthesis (DDFS) is a method of producing an analog waveform by generating a time-varying signal in digital form, succeeded by digital-to-analog reconstruction. At behavioral level the bit products with specified weights are used to generate the sine wave. In representation of a sine wave both positive and negative weights are generated. Since negative weights are not desired in design, the negative weights are transformed to positive weights. To reduce the number of current sources and control signals, bit product signals of those current sources which cannot be switched on simultaneously and have equal weights are shared. After sharing weights, the control signals are reduced to from 59 to 43 and current sources from 207 to 145. Different control words are used by the DDFS system in order to generate different frequencies. The control word is successively added to the previous value in a 20-bit accumulator. Nine most significant bits out of these twenty bits are used for the DAC. Since the Current Steering DAC architecture is suitable for high speed and high resolution purposes, so a 9-bit nonlinear current steering DAC is used to convert the output of bit products to the analog sine wave. Seven bits are used to generate one quarter of the sine wave. Eighth and ninth bits are used to generate the full sine wave. HCMOS 9 (130 nm) ST Microelectronics process is used by employing high speed NMOS and PMOS transistors. The bit products (control signals) are computed by using complementary static CMOS logic which then act as control signals for the current sources after passing through D-flip flops. Practical design issues of current sources and parts of digital logic were studied and implemented using the Cadence full-custom design environment.

The allocation of frequency spectrum by the FCC for Ultra Wideband (UWB) communications in the 3.1-10.6 GHz has paved the path for very high data rate Gb/s wireless communications. Frequency synthesis in these communication systems involves great challenges such as high frequency and wideband operation in addition to stringent requirements on frequency hopping time and coexistence with other wireless standards. This research proposes frequency generation schemes for such radio systems and their integrated implementations in silicon based technologies. Special emphasis is placed on efficient frequency planning and other system level considerations for building compact and practical systems for carrier frequency generation in an integrated UWB radio. This work proposes a frequency band plan for multiband OFDM based UWB radios in the 3.1-10.6 GHz range. Based on this frequency plan, two 11-band frequency synthesizers are designed, implemented and tested making them one of the first frequency synthesizers for UWB covering 78% of the licensed spectrum. The circuits are implemented in 0.25µm SiGe BiCMOS and the architectures are based on a single VCO at a fixed frequency followed by an array of dividers, multiplexers and single sideband (SSB) mixers to generate the 11 required bands in quadrature with fast hopping in much less than 9.5 ns. One of the synthesizers is integrated and tested as part of a 3-10 GHz packaged receiver. It draws 80 mA current from a 2.5 V supply and occupies an area of 2.25 mm2. Finally, an architecture for a UWB synthesizer is proposed that is based on a single multiband quadrature VCO, a programmable integer divider with 50% duty cycle and a single sideband mixer. A frequency band plan is proposed that greatly relaxes the tuning range requirement of the multiband VCO and leads to a very digitally intensive architecture for wideband frequency synthesis suitable for implementation in deep submicron CMOS processes. A design in 130nm CMOS occupies less than 1 mm2 while consuming 90 mW. This architecture provides an efficient solution in terms of area and power consumption with very low complexity.

Ultra¬wide band (UWB) system is a breakthrough in wireless communication, as it provides data rate one order higher than existing ones. This dissertation focuses on the design of CMOS integrated frequency synthesizer and its building blocks used in UWB system. A mixer¬based frequency synthesizer architecture is proposed to satisfy the agile frequency hopping requirement, which is no more than 9.5 ns, three orders faster than conventional phase¬locked loop (PLL)¬based synthesizers. Harmonic cancela¬tion technique is extended and applied to suppress the undesired harmonic mixing components. Simulation shows that sidebands at 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz are below 36 dBc from carrier. The frequency synthesizer contains a novel quadrature VCO based on the capacitive source degeneration structure. The QVCO tackles the jeopardous ambiguity of the oscillation frequency in conventional QVCOs. Measurement shows that the 5¬GHz CSD¬QVCO in 0.18 µm CMOS technology draws 5.2 mA current from a 1.2 V power supply. Its phase noise is ¬120 dBc at 3 MHz offset. Compared with existing phase shift LC QVCOs, the proposed CSD¬QVCO presents better phase noise and power efficiency. Finally, a novel injection locking frequency divider (ILFD) is presented. Im¬plemented with three stages in 0.18 µm CMOS technology, the ILFD draws 3¬mA current from a 1.8¬V power supply. It achieves multiple large division ratios as 6, 12, and 18 with all locking ranges greater than 1.7 GHz and injection frequency up to 11 GHz. Compared with other published ILFDs, the proposed ILFD achieves the largest division ratio with satisfactory locking range.

This thesis establishes a quantization noise model of a delta-sigma modulator (DSM), which is utilized to estimate the phase noise performance of a fractional-N frequency synthesizer. In delta-sigma modulator structures, we choose multi-stage noise shaping (MASH) and single-loop structure for investigating the advantages and disadvantages. We have implemented a 3rd order single-loop and a 3rd order MASH DSM by using Verilog codes and a Xilinx field-programmable gate-array (FPGA). With a reference frequency of 12MHz, the fractional-N frequency synthesizer has an output frequency band of 2400~2500MHz, and a frequency resolution of 183 Hz. The measured phase noise is lower than -54 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz offset frequency. The PLL settling time is less than 29us with a 48 MHz frequency hopping.

Abstract¡G For the fractional-N frequency synthesizers using delta-sigma modulation techniques, the noise source dominant to degrade the spectral purity comes from phase intermodulation of quantization noise due to the PLL nonlinearity. To study and improve the PLL nonlinearity effect, this thesis applies the theory of white quantization noise and nonlinear analysis method to simulate the frequency responses of quantization noises in delta-sigma modulators (DSM) with different order and in various architecture. With the help of Agilent EEsof¡¦s ADS tool, the phase noise performance of the studied fractional-N frequency synthesizers can be well predicted. For demonstration, this thesis work implements a 2.4 GHz fractional-N frequency synthesizer hybrid module, and measures the phase noise under considering various combinations of DSM order and architecture, PLL bandwidth and reference frequency. Another demonstration of this thesis is to implement a PLL IC using 0.18 £gm CMOS process. The implemented PLL IC operates in the frequency range from 2120 to 2380 MHz with a supply voltage of 1.8 V and a current consumption of 27 mA. Under the test condition of reference frequency and PLL bandwidth equal to 20 MHz and 50 kHz, respectively, the measured phase noise is 90 dBc/Hz at an offset frequency of 100 kHz and the measured stable time is about 40 £gs for a frequency jump of 80MHz.

This thesis presents the CMOS integer-N frequency synthesizer for 2 GHz 802.11 WLAN applications with 1.8V power supply. The frequency synthesizer is fabricated in a TSMC 0.18£gm CMOS 1P6M technology process. The frequency synthesizer consists of a phase-frequency detector, a charge pump, a loop filter, and a pulse-swallow counter. In pulse-swallow counter, we use less numbers of transistors divide-by-2/3 prescaler to work in high frequency in order to reduce power consumption. We complete the design of pulse-swallow counter for 2-GHz (seven channels) and the 5-GHz (four channels) application. The average power consumption of pulse-swallow counter is 2.49 mW and 2.98 mW for 2-GHz and 5-GHz application respectively. We use Verilog-A language to complete VCO behavior model for frequency synthesizer and utilize the Spectre simulation results justify the feasibility of our proposed frequency synthesizer. The total power consumption of frequency synthesizer is 3.432mW and 4.673mW for 2-GHz and 5-GHz frequency synthesizer, respectively.

This thesis presents a low power consumption, low phase noise, and fast locking CMOS fractional-N frequency synthesizer with optimalied voltage-controlled oscillator. The frequency synthesizer is designed in a TSMC 0.18£gm CMOS 1P6M technology process. It can be used for IEEE 802.16e mobile Wimax¡¦s devices and outputing frequency is ranged from 2.3GHz to 2.45GHz for the local oscillator in RF front-end circuits. The proposed frequency synthesizer consists of a phase-frequency detector (PFD), a charge pump (CP), a low-pass loop filter (LPF), a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), a multi-modulus divider, and a delta-sigma modulator (DSM). In system design, two voltage-controlled oscillators we presented to achieve low power consumption, low phase noise, and stable output swing. Delta-sigma modulator (DSM) is adopted to produce high frequency resolution, switching over frequency fast and very low phase noise. This thesis proposes a switch circuit which can reduce the lock of time of synthesizer. In the mean time it also reduces the emergence of lose lock.

Clock and data recovery (CDR) circuit and frequency synthesizer are two essential timing circuits in wireline and wireless communication systems, respectively. With multigigabits/s high speed links and emerging 4G wireless system widely used in communication backbone infrastructures and consumer electronic devices, effective design of CDR and frequency synthesizer has become more and more important. The advanced scaled-down CMOS process has the limitations of leakage current, low supply voltage and process variation which pose great challenge to the analog circuit design. To overcome these issues, a digital intensive CDR solution is needed. Besides, it is desirable for the CDR to cover a wide range of data-rate and to be reference-less for improved flexibility. As for the frequency synthesizer design, the support for multi-standard to reduce the cost and area is desirable. In this work, a digital reference-less CDR is proposed to support continuous datarate ranging from 1 Gbps to 16 Gbps. The CDR adopts an 8 GHz~16 GHz DCO to achieve low random noise performance. A reference-less digital frequency locking loop is included in the system as the acquisition assistance for the CDR loop. To address the difficulty of jitter and stability evaluations for bang-band CDR, a Simulink model is developed to find out the jitter transfer (JTRAN), jitter generation (JGEN) and jitter tolerance (JTOL) performances for the CDR. The prototype CDR is implemented in a 65 nm CMOS process. The core area is 0.68 mm². At 16 Gbps, the CDR consumes a power of 92.5 mW and is able to tolerate a sinusoidal jitter with an amplitude of 0.4 UI and a frequency of 4 MHz. The second part of this dissertation develops a frequency synthesizer for multistandard wireless receivers. The frequency synthesizer is based on an analog fractional-N PLL. Optimally-coupled quadrature voltage-controlled-oscillator (QVCO), dividers and harmonic rejection single sideband mixer (HR-SSBmixer) are combined to synthesize the desired frequency range without posing much phase noise penalty on the QVCO. The QVCO adopts a new phase-shift scheme to improve phase noise and to eliminate bimodal oscillation. Combining harmonic rejection and single sideband mixing, the HR-SSBmixer is developed to suppress spurious signals. Designed in a 0.13-μm CMOS technology, the synthesizer occupies an active area of 1.86 mm² and consumes 35.6 to 52.62 mW of power. Measurement results show that the synthesizer frequency range, the phase noise, the settling time and the spur performances meet the specifications of the wireless receivers for the above standards. For a wide range frequency synthesizer, an automatic frequency calibration circuit (AFC) is needed to select proper oscillator tuning curve before the PLL settling. An improved counter-based AFC is proposed in this dissertation that provides a more robust and faster tuning curve searching process. The proposed AFC adopts a time-to-digital converter (TDC), which is able to captures the fractional VCO cycle information within the counting window, to improve the AFC frequency detection accuracy. The TDC-based AFC is designed in a 0.13-μm CMOS technology. Simulation results show that the TDCbased AFC greatly improves the frequency detection accuracy and consequently for a given frequency detection resolution reduces the AFC calibration time.