design, modeling and noise measurement of oscillators using a large signal network analyzer

143 Pages·2011·1.58 MB·English

DESIGN, MODELING AND NOISE MEASUREMENT OF
OSCILLATORS USING A LARGE SIGNAL NETWORK
ANALYZER
DISSERTATION
Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for
the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the
Graduate School of The Ohio State University
By
Inwon Suh, M.S.E.E.
Graduate Program in Electrical and Computer Engineering
The Ohio State University
2011
Dissertation Committee:
Prof. PatrickRoblin,Adviser
Prof. StevenB.Bibyk
Prof. RobertoRojas-Teran
Prof. JamesPeck
(cid:176)c Copyrightby
InwonSuh
2011
ABSTRACT
Oscillators play a crucial role in wireless communication systems since they are used
together with mixers for frequency translation. To design discrete oscillators in a more
efficient way in terms of output power, a multi-harmonic real-time open-loop active load-
pulltechniquewasdevelopedandusedtofindtheoptimalfundamentalandharmonicload
impedances. Multi-harmonic loaded load circuits were then designed and implemented to
approachtheoptimalmulti-harmonicloadimpedancesandrealizeastand-aloneoscillator.
Then, a new behavioral modeling technique based on power dependent Volterra series
wasdevelopedtomodelnegative-resistanceoscillators. Thederivedbehavioralmodelpre-
dicts the harmonic load-pull behaviors and the output power characteristics of oscillators
andassistswiththeoscillatordesign.
The noise characteristic of oscillator is also of great importance in communication cir-
cuits. A new generalized 1/f Kurokawa noise analysis applicable to both low and high
Q oscillators is proposed for 1/f phase and amplitude noise. A theoretical correspon-
dence between the new generalized Kurokawa theory and the impulse sensitivity function
and the perturbation projection vector analyses is also derived. The proposed generalized
KurokawatheoryisthenappliedtoaVanDerPoloscillator,aBJTColpittsoscillatoranda
CMOS ring-oscillator, and a pHEMT oscillator and is verified to yield comparable results
tothoseobtainedfromthematrixconversionmethodandtheexperimentalresult.
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Also,an1/fadditivephasenoiseanalysisfortheinjection-lockedoscillatorispresented.
An additive phase noise measurement system integrated with an LSNA is also developed
toeffectivelyacquire themodelparameters needed. Thevalidityof theanalytic solutionis
finallyverifiedtoyieldreasonableagreementtotheexperimentalresult.
The additive phase noise measurement system integrated with a LSNA and a tunable
monochromatic light source is further applied to characterize the additive phase noise per-
formance of the both passivated and unpassivated AlGaN/GaN HEMT at 2 GHz under
various operating conditions. Illumination with different photon energies, different drain
voltages, and different load impedances are used to probe the dependence of the additive
phasenoiseonthetrapand2DEGpopulation.
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Thisisdedicatedtomyfamily.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my deep appreciation to my respected advisor Pro-
fessor Patrick Roblin for his teaching and support. His outstanding insights and creative
ideas have made various impossible researches possible whenever we have faced difficul-
ties. Most of all, he has been an excellent role model for me as a researcher and even as a
human being. All of the knowledge and experiences I have learned from him will inspire
mefortherestofmylife.
I also would like to thank Professor Roberto Rojas and Professor Steven Bibyk for
their valuable time and guidance throughout my graduate studies as excellent committee
members. Without their supports and advices, it would not have been possible for me to
completemydoctoratestudies.
Itisalsomygreatpleasuretothankvisitingscholars: ProfessorHyoDalPark,Professor
Young Gi Kim, and Dr. Dominique Chaillot. They always gave me fruitful advices and
encouragementsformyresearchwheneverneeded.
I would also like to give my gratitude to Jeff Strahler and Christian Bean. They were
greatmentorsduringmyinternshipatAndrewWirelessSolutions.
I also would like to express my gratitude for all of the colleagues in our Non-Linear
RF Lab. Especially, I thank Professor Seok Joo Doo who greatly helped me for doing
many experiments in the lab. Also Dr. Sukkeun Myoung, Dr. Sunyoung Lee, Dr. Jongsoo
Lee, and Dr. Xian Cui greatly helped me understanding many difficult concepts and ideas
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relatedtotheresearchasseniorstudents. AlsoIspentmanyenjoyabledayswithVenkatesh
Balasubramaniandiscussingvariousresearchareas.
I also would like to thank Haedong Jang, Jiwoo Kim, and Youngseo Ko for providing
greatresearchdiscussionsaswellastheirtimeforentertainments. AlsoChie-KaiYang,Xi
Yang, Chunjoo Yang, Andres Zarate-de-Landa, and Dounia Baiya helped me a lot under-
standingvariousdifferentresearchareas.
I also owe a lot of appreciation to my parents and brother in South Korea for their
continuous encouragement and support. Without their love and support, it would not have
beenpossibletocompletethiswork.
Finally I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my wife Junghoon Lee, son
Jonathan Suh, and daughter Jenny Suh for their endless love and support during my grad-
uate studies. Especially Junghoon has sacrificed so much time for me and it will never be
forgettable. Iloveyouandlet’senjoythismemorabletimeofourlife.
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VITA
January,1979 ...............................Born-Seoul,RepublicofKorea
August,2005 ...............................B.S.
ElectricalEngineering,
KoreaUniversity,
Seoul,RepublicofKorea
June,2007 ..................................M.S.
Electrical&ComputerEngineering,
TheOhioStateUniversity.
June,2007-present .........................Ph. D.Student,
ElectricalandComputerEngineering,
TheOhioStateUniversity.
June2007-September2007 ................. GraduateResearchAssociate,
ElectricalandComputerEngineering,
TheOhioStateUniversity.
September2007-June2008 ................. GraduateTeachingAssociate,
ElectricalandComputerEngineering,
TheOhioStateUniversity.
June2008-September2008 ................. Intern,
AndrewWirelessSolutions,
Westerville,OH.
September2008-March2009 ................GraduateTeachingAssociate,
ElectricalandComputerEngineering,
TheOhioStateUniversity.
March2009-September2009 ................GraduateResearchAssociate,
ElectricalandComputerEngineering,
TheOhioStateUniversity.
September2009-June2010 ................. GraduateTeachingAssociate,
ElectricalandComputerEngineering,
TheOhioStateUniversity.
vii
June2010-September2010 ................. GraduateResearchAssociate,
ElectricalandComputerEngineering,
TheOhioStateUniversity.
September2010-present ....................GraduateTeachingAssociate,
ElectricalandComputerEngineering,
TheOhioStateUniversity.
PUBLICATIONS
ResearchPublications
P. Roblin, Y. Ko, C. K. Yang, I. Suh, and S. J. Doo, “NVNA Techniques for Pulsed RF
Measurements”. IEEEMicrowaveMagazine,vol. 12,no. 2,pp. 65-76,Apr. 2011.
I. Suh, P. Roblin, S. J. Doo, X. Cui, J. Strahler, and R. G. Rojas, “A Measurement-Based
MethodologytoDesignHarmonicLoadedOscillatorsUsingReal-TimeActiveLoad-Pull”.
IETMicrowaves,AntennasandPropagation,vol. 5,no. 1,pp. 77-83,Jan. 2011.
I.Suh,P.Roblin,Y.Ko,C.K.Yang,A.Malonis,A.Arehart,S.Ringel,C.Poblenz,Y.Pei,
J. Speck, and U. Mishra, “Additive Phase Noise Measurements of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs
Using an Large Signal Network Analyzer and a Tunable Monochromatic Light Source”.
ARFTG74thConf.,Broomfield/Boulder,CO,Dec. 2009.
J. Mukherjee, Y. G. Kim, I. Suh, P. Roblin, W. R. Liou, Y. C. Lin and M. Shojaei Baghini,
“Microstrip Equivalent Parasitic Modeling of RFIC Interconnects”. 50th Midwest Symp.
onCircuitsandSystems,Montreal,Canada,Aug. 2007.
I. Suh, S. J. Doo, P. Roblin, X. Cui, Y. G. Kim, J. Strahler, M. V. Bossche, R. Rojas, and
H. D. Park, “Negative input resistance and real-time active load-pull measurements of a
2.5GHzoscillatorusingaLSNA”. ARFTG69thConf.,Honolulu,HI,June2007.
FIELDS OF STUDY
MajorField: ElectricalandComputerEngineering
StudiesinMicrowaveandMicroelectronics: Prof.PatrickRoblin
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
Dedication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Vita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
ListofTables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii
ListofFigures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Chapters:
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Measurement-basedoscillatordesign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Oscillator 1/f phasenoisemodels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2.1 1/f phasenoisemodelforoscillator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2.2 1/f phasenoisemodelforinjection-lockedoscillator . . . . . . 8
1.3 Additivephasenoisemeasurementsystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4 Researchoutlineandnewcontributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2. Measurement-based methodology to design harmonic loaded oscillators using
real-timeactiveloadpull . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1 DescriptionoftheMeasurementSystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.1.1 NegativeResistanceOscillatorDesign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.1.2 Real-TimeActiveLoad-PullMeasurementSystem . . . . . . . . 16
2.2 ExperimentalResults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.2.1 NegativeInputResistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
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