The voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) is a critical sub-block in communications transceivers. The role of the VCO in a transceiver and the VCO requirements will be reviewed and the necessity of GHz VCOs and the driving factors towards the monolithic integration of the VCO be examined. In addition, the VCO design techniques will be outlined and design trade-offs be explored.
The voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) is a critical sub-block in communications transceivers. The role of the VCO in a transceiver and the VCO requirements will be reviewed and the necessity of GHz VCOs and the driving factors towards the monolithic integration of the VCO be examined. In addition, the VCO design techniques will be outlined and design trade-offs be explored.
In this project some alternative VCO architectures will be analyzed during an evaluation study and the results will be compared. The circuits will be designed under required performance constraints of minimal power, layout area, signal cross talks and noise reduction using advanced IC technologies. The students will be responsible for the circuit requirements, analysis and specifications definition, focusing on the readout noise performance. Circuit design and simulations and analog layout will be done using Cadence tools.