t

M and Principles Test ethods Design

Noise Phase *t Low

jll

Sources *icrowave

Scherer Dieter

RF&Mlcrowave Measurement Symposlum and Exhlt ltlon

ftE SFTiif;T

-1-

Introduct'ion suchas satellite applications of number microv',ave In an increasing syitemdesignlegyires signal sources dnO cormunications toa.tn radar, the -The intenl of th'is papefis to.give noile. w'iththe lowestpottiUie pnase noise designandtest of low phase of.bniia.ritions toi ttre an overview of specifications frequency sources. First, .o*on definitions and designprinciplesof ana iiiUiiity are sf'own iefated io-eacnother. Then noisecharacteristics andphase iiw-pr,ai! noiseitnpriiiers, osciiiuiors i a o f d i v i d e r s . " . i o u e . e d s - w e l la s t h e i r i n t e g r a t i o n n t o c r u c i a l b l o c k s multiplicaphuse lock loops, and reference signa] sources, of iynthesized phase noiseare compared' of lion. Finaily, mEthods measuring

-2Termi og.y nol

r:l v ( t ) = V rco s l e n to t + A O(tlJ r epr esentsa signal with a linear ly gr owi ng fluctuating ter m A0( t) , phasenois e. p h a s eco mp o n e n t rfo t a n d a r andomly Z dq{ t) Ther efor e,we can talk in ter ms of R e c a l l th a t r(t) = J 2n dt p h a s efl u ctu a ti o n s o r i n ter m s of fr equencyfiuctuations to descr ibe one

s andthe same ignal. c l S o m e o n ve n ti o n a te rms fo r char acter izingfr equencystability in the ti m e domain re: (seeFig. 1a) a - L o n gt e r m s t a b i l i t y , d e s c r i b i n gs l o w c h a n g e o f f r e q u e n c yi k e a g i n g . l s - S h o rt te rm sta b i l i ty, cover ingfr equencynoise and fluctuations wit fp p r a nd o m e ri o d s sh o rte r than som e minutes.

al Time Domain

laf(z)l

lr

1 sec I min Short Term Stability

I hour Long Term stability

deviation plotted F i g . l a sh o w s e fr actional fr equency th o ve r sa mple time t.

-3-

hlalk, Flicker and W hi te dom ain,ter m s like Random L i k e w i se , i n th e fre q u e n cy p h a s eN o i sed e scri b e th e sl ope of spectr al density. Fig. 1b plots the s pec tr al ( fluctr .r ation. The Four jer Fr equencyher e l abel ed d e n s i ty d i stri b u ti o n o f p h ase M 0ffset Fr equencyn odulati onF r equenc y Fr f r ) m a ya l so b e ca l l e d si d eband equency, Frequency. or Baseband

Domain bl Frequency f 4Random WalkFM

aoz(fm)

-2

(WhiteFMI RandomWdk Phase

* fm FourierFrequencY (Sideband Frequency) (Offset Frequencyl tModulationFrequency)

Fig.'lb

- 4-

Definition of J

(f*)

characterization of phasenoise of sources in the frequency The most common this is what one obse r v es pr i d o m a i n s th e R F p o w e rsp e ctr um , obablybecause A a o n a s p e c t r u m n a l y z e rw h e n Mn o i s e i s i n s i g n i f i c a n t ( F i g . 2 ) n T h e d i s p l a y i s s y m m e t r i c a l .T a k i n gj u s t o n e s i d e a n d l o o k i n g a t s i d e b a n d o i s e l i n a l Hz b a n d w i d the a d s to the definition of scr ipt4 ( fr ) : powerof phas e Sc r i p t 4 (f*) i s d e fi n e d a s the r atio of the single sideband fm noise in a lHz bandwidth Hertz awayfrom the carrier frequencyto the total s i g n a l p o w e r.

Fig. ?

r
grl
g

sl '6 1
Fig.3

!sc cL

o&t

EE
.crF

E.E o!
?E

8s

+.ll<-1

62

fm

-5-

HowDoesPhaseMod@ noise. To r el ate T h e p r evi o u sd e fi n i ti o n o f & is pr imar ily applied to r andom fr e quenc y o & t o r an d o m r si n u so i d a l p hasemodulation,a signal with sinusoidal fi i m o d u l ati o n s co n si d e re d rst and conver tedto phasemodulation. f =fo+ A fpeaksestafrt 0 = J 2 z f ( t )d t
Q= 2ttfo t + *r," 2n t^t
f

O= Znlot+Ad peaksin 2z f,,.'t v (t| = V, cos (22 fot *o fPgtk 'm sin 2rf.t)

to yi Be s s e la 'l g e b ra e l d s th e si ngle sideband car r ier r atio. For a smal l n < m o d u l a t i o nn d e x , A q p e a k < 1 , t h e f o l l o w ' i n ga p p r o x i m a t i oh o l d s : i

afpeak fm

+ =,, fS-+Y=!oop".r
(b\r= \u'1
t., \z 's-sb
1 \sl
\tt

peak + asz 4
Fig.4

o r i n l o g a ri th mi c fo rm:

| = -6dB+20log AS peak

-6-

is For randomp h a sefl u c tuations, A$peak r eplacedwith an equivalent fo JZ Aorms r a l H z bandwidth.

4 (fr) =

ftg;,,

= +({z ro"rJ'=, Ao2rms

by Noiseexpr essed 4 : 0 r i n ve rse l y, th e S p e ctra l Densityof Phase = SAO(f*) = A02rms 2 J. (fr)

(tr)fo,= 3dB A(fr)l + s^o

aa.

Fluctuations, Relatedto Sr t.,landr C Sp e c tra l D e n si t.v f F re q u enc.v o discr im inator s give the Spectr al wi S t a b i l i ty me a su re me n tsth fr equency D e n s i t yo f F r e q u e n cF l u c t u a t i o n s . y Saf (fm) = Af2r*, T o r e l a te th e sp e ctra 'ld e n sity of fr equency fluctuations to the spec tr al d e n s i ty o f p h a sen o 'i sew e recall that

r Af(t)= 6

.|Ao(t) =oa

Transformed into the frequencydomain: Af(fr) = f, A0 (fm)

s^f(fm) = Af2.*r(fr) = f*2 s4(r*)

= 2 f Z .{ (fr) m

-7-

NBSproposesto standardizethe spectral density of fractional frequency to fr f l u c t ua ti o n s. T h e i n sta n taneous equencydeviation is nor m alized the carrier frequencyfo.

v(t)= +(!.t to
sy(fm)
I $o 'c m = s^f(fm) =TJ 1*,rr,

rZ

'#.,(r,n)

=6

fluctuations allows better com pa r i s on C h a r acte ri zi n gfra cti o n a l fr equency so b e t w ee n u rce sw i th d i ffe rent car r ier fr equencies' Residual FMRelated to .C[fr) way to specify the frequencystability of Residual FMis another conmon s i g n al g e n e ra to rs. R e si d ualFMis the total r ms fr equencydeviation wi thi n to are 50Hzto 3kHz, 300H2 used bandwidths a specified bandwidth. conmonly 3 k H z ,2 0 H zt o l 5 k H z .
a-

rrres= 6I-l

r.o2drt r(rm)

( f* ) anA T h e t ab l e b e l o wco rre l a te s Af"., and { ( fr ) for specific sloPesof I JOtkHz=-100d8c.

Slope of J (fm)

FM Residual efr", [Hzl 50 Hz to 3 kHz 300 Hz to 3 kHz 1.9 .94 .73 .68 2OHzto 15 kHz

- 10 0 -100 -100 - 10 0

0dB -3 dB -6 dB -9 dB

1.y .95 .77 .90

r5.0
4.74 1.73 1.15

- 8-

*For any J @ t kxz differentto -100 dBc multiply 100-ll@lkHz/dBcl afr", of the tableby antilog sidebands. or any microphonic spurious The tabledoesnot takeinto account Example: -9 .C@ 1 kHz = -88 dBc,Slope dB For bandwidth Hz to 15 kHz: 20 100 -88 Afres= 1.15Hz x antilog

= 4.6 Hz

A l l a n V a r i a n c e e l a t e dt o 4 ( f * ) R F o r m a n y p p l i c a t i o n sl,i k e h i g h s t a b i ' l i t y c r y s t a l o s c i l l a t o r s o r d o p p l e rr a d a r a s y s t e m s,i t i s mo rere l e va n t to descr ibefr equencystability in the tim e dom ai n. var T h e c h ara cte ri za ti o ni s b a sedon the sam ple ianceof fr actional fr equenc y pair s with n o deadsam ple d f l u c t u a ti o n s. A ve ra g i n g i ffer ences of consecutive t i m e i n b e t w e e y i e l d s t h e A l l a n V a r i a n c e , o r z t r ) , w h i c hi s t h e p r o p o s e d n s t a n d a rdme a su re f fre q u e n cystability. o
M-1 \ L K=1

of,rr)-#1)

F1.'1-V1)2

Tn ts the averagefractiona'l frequencydifference of the k-th samplemeasured o v e r s amp l e me t. ti data and vice ver sa ar e possi bl e C o n v e rsi o n fro m fre q u e n cyto time domain s by but tedious. The powerspectrum l-(fr) needsto be approximated integer f s l o p e so f 0 , - 1 , - 2 , - 3 , - 4 . T h e nc o n v e r s i o no r m u l a s( s e e T a b l e b e l o w )c a n i b e a p p l i e d . A g o o dd e s c r i p t i o no f t h i s p r o c e d u r es g i v e n i n [ Z ] a n a [ S ] .

- 9-

Table Convercion

oto! lrl Stope ,WHITEPHASE 2.565{o

orlrl =

J(f)=

Slopeof "C(f)

./rJfr4,-r

(3rt,t'rotz.sost)2
f6

FLICKERPHASE

- r.9

* 't) r ttt t (z.teo /n1rn

2.565fo

(o, trt rofz.sosl)2 " f-l

Z.1u+ ln $6r I

WHITEFREO.

- I

ffi
fo

t-1t2
-

(o, trt"

1t2 to)2 12

-2

1.665\,/x (fl fr F FLICKER REO. 'o

o.:or(o, trt to)2t-3

-3

RANDOMWALK FREO.

+l

3.63
lo

1112

o,l'l ''1t2 'o)t 'o (to.zzet

= bandwidth time, v = A folfo, fo ='carrier, I = sideband frequency' fh rmeasurementsystem t - measurement

of lrlehave coveredthe most frequently used measures Phasenoise and hav e n inter-related them. Next we take a look at the gener ationo f p h a s e o i s e i n a m pilf i e r s a n d o s c i l l a t o r s .

- 10-

b C No Ph a s e 'i se a u se d y A d d 'i ti veNoise

h L e t u s exa mi n e o wp h a sen o i se is added t o a s i g n a l p a s s i n gt h r o u g ha n a m p ' l i f i e r w i t h n o i s ef i g u r e F .

a)

-F

P,,,

of The powerspectrum wh'ite noise added t o t h e si g n a l ca n b e th o u g ht of as the s u mo f l H z b a n d se a ch o f w h ich has the o a v a i l a b l e p o w e r f F k T . E a c hb a n di s n o wr e p l a ce db y a d i scre te signal V n. r , o f e q u iva 'l e n ta va il a ble power :

Vnrmsl=

l Hz fo+f-

vn = tF '*'
n T h e p h a s o rd ' i a g r a in F i 9 . 5c reveals caused t h e p h a seP e rtu rb a ti o nA 0 Peak' bY Vnrr, . For smallA0,
AC\ -''peak 'l -

bl

fo-f'n

v n r m s l ,FkT =\lGu v, uu "*,

c)

= A0I rms

fi

A t f o - fm a n o th e r n o i se si g nal of equal phasere'lati on t magni tude b.u wi th random t o t h e n o i se si g n a l a t fo +fm causesthe p f same hase luctuation of the signa1. and result in Both A0"r, add powervtise a total A0rmstotal =

a @- ,

Vou r-anE

a)o

Fig.5

- 11-

T h e s p ectra l d e n si ty o f p h a senoise is ther efor e:

=ao'"rr= S0,., $*u

4,=i

FKT E- a v 's

input. But the s am e a U s i n g ava i l a b l e si g n a l a n d n oise powerassum ed m atched phasenoise r esults with m i s m atc hed s i g n a l - to -n o i se ra ti o a n d th er efor e the sam e F i n p u t , assu mi n g re ma i n su nchanged. p E x a m p l e :A s i g n a l o f O d B ma s s i n gt h r o u g ha n a m p l i f i e r w i t h S d Bn o i s e f i g u r e s h o u l d h a vea sp e ctra l d e n sity of phasenoise of = + SaO = -174dBm 5dB - 0dBm -169dB offset. lr { ith a pr ac ti c al on' T h i s t h e o re ti ca l fl o o r ca n be obser ved ly at some a t r a n s i s t o r a m p l i f i e r , S O , s h o w s f l i c k e r c h a r a c t e r i s t i cw h i c h i s e m p i r i c a l l y described by the corner frequencyfc. For Fourier frequencies below f., SAO i n c r e a s e sw i th fr-1 . and f . i s ve ry d e vi ce -d e p e n d e nt can r ange fr om lkHz to lM Hz. It is cau s edby the phaseof the passingsignal by l o w f r e q u e n cyd e vi ce n o i se m odulating of and the transconductance the inp.ut and output impedances the modu'lating c device noise has the sam e aus e' n a m p l i f ie r. U p co n ve rsi oo f the low fr equency o t h e n o n-l i n e a r p a ra me te rs f the device. The effect of this m ultip' lica ti v e processcan be reducedby: 1. ?. 3. a N e g a ti vefe e d b a ck t l o w fr equency. at So m e e g a ti ve fe e d b a ck RF fr equencyto stabilize the tr ansconduc tanc e. n D e si g n i n gth e R F a mp l i fi er for low noise figur e also at low fr equenc y .

-12-

Noise Actual Phase

so=ff (.*)

+1,,'

Fis.6

fc

d S I O i n c l u d i n g t h e e m p i r i c a lm o d j f i c a t i o nd u e t o l o w f r e q u e n c y e v i c en o i s e n i i s m o d e l e dn F i g . 6 a n d w i l l b e u s e da s t h e p h a s e o j s e s t i m u l u s i n t h e o m f o l ' l o w i n g o d e lo f a f e e d b a c k s c i l l a t o r . N M L e e s o n ' s o d e lo f P h a s e o i s ei n 0 s c i l l a t o r s p n o m L e e s o n , s o d e lo f a f e e d b a c k s c i l l a t o r d e s c r i b e s h a s e o i s e i n f r e e r u n n ' i n g o s c i l l a t o r s [ e ] . I t c o n s i s t so f a n a m p l i f i e r w i t h n o i s e f i g u r e F a n d a loop. Ref. [el Aescr ibesa mor e f i l t e r , e .g . a re so n a to ri n the feedback g e n e r a lmo d e l .

-13-

L(<'rt) =

Output

Ad(on,)

t* i.r n2 or oad

sao (fm)

J (fm)
AO(o*)

quivalent Lowpassfor Resonator

Fig.7

loop. Tr ans m i s s i on h F i g . 7 sh o w s o wth i s mo d e l.tr ansfer sinto a phasefeedback RF theory states that the transfer function of a phasem odulated signal Pas s i ng s e t h r o u g ha b a n d p a ss q u a l s the tr ansfer function of t h e m o d u l a t i n g i g n a l p a s s i n gt h r o u g ha n e q u i v a l e n tl o w p a s s . tr r A t a n k ci rcu i t a s a b a n d p a ssesults in the following lowpass ansfer f u n c t i on :

L(r,rr) =
u)^ w'ith -fi zel

t'r*zQload t * t
,o

of representing the half bandwidth the resonator. oad

p h y s i ca l l y i n te rp re te d , th e phase modulationis tr ansfer r ed unattenuated through the resonator up to rates equal to half of its bandwidth. As the ra m o d u l a ti o n te i n cre a se sfur ther , the r esonatorattenuatesthe passin gphas e m o d u l ati o n i th 6 d BP e r o ctave. w

-14-

loop due to a stim ulus o T h e c l ose d l o o p re sp o n se f the phasefeedback a o ( o m)i s

=(1 + ao(.^,m) l;;fu)

s Its powertransfe r fu n cti o n equal

ao(c^,,n)

= sr(f,r.,)

(rm) h . q (.g )'l xs6s 2oroad' -" t^2'

L J
\

Transfer Function Phase

Phase Perturbation

=* .crt,"r

[.,.# (+-,.,)'],o"

t", o - F k r _ ( 1+ Dao=;+m 's av ' . T h i s e q u a t i o n d e s c r i b e s p h a s en o i s e a t t h e o u t p u t o f t h e a m p ' l i f i e r . I t i l l u s t r a t e s h o w S o r , t h e p h a s ep e r t u r b a t i o n a t t h e i n p u t o f t h e a m p l i f i e r ' i s e n h a n c e d y t h e p o s i t i v e p h a s e f e e d b a c k w i t h i n t h e h a l f b a n d w i d t ho f t h e b

resonator, ;g a vl

oad of D e p e nd i no n th e re l a ti o n o f the cor ner fr equency flicker noise, f., i n g S O , t o th e h a l f b a n d w i d th f the r esonator , two char acter istic phaseno i s e o d i s t r i b u ti o n s re su l t fro m m ultiplying the tr ansfer function with the pe r tur bat i o n . T h e ya r e d e p i c t e di n F i g . 8 .

- 15-

High O Oscillator
to
20

Low O Oscillator
e j'9 -. r ' 'c 20

ar^ b

Noise ResultingPhase

Noise ResultingPhase

.C(fm)

(fml "C

520
Fig.8

2()

-16-

N o O p t i m i z a t i o n f P h a s e o i s ei n O s c i l l a t o r s the var ious Par ameter of an ac tual s e L L e t u s e xp a n d e e so n 's q u a tionto expose focus on J , ( tt) n o s c i l l a t o r w h i c ha r e r e l e v a n t t o p h a s e o i s e optim ization. t,{ e o w i t h i n th e h a l f b a n d w i d th f the r esonator :

for f. (

fo

2otoad 1 /\2 l-o \

n & ( f m )- 1 2

;'\zo*t

P,"u. * ) (

FkT

Typical Oscillator

FKT
o@2= / AO /

G
\

( 1+

ftr

P,,,

Rr",

Fig. 9

a Q l o a dc a n b e e xP re sse d s:

= otoad

-oWe

-oW"-

ffi,

F;;. p;F%is

power Totil dissipated

ReactivePower

L between and C W. where is the reactive energygo'ing

w"=trru'

Pr.,=*

-L7-

J{-r}=} tr"

to2 *m 2

.3*lt .

owe/

(.*)

Input Powerover Power Reactive

most it T h i s e q u a ti o n i s p a rti cu l a rl y significant because encom passes of the n o o c a u s e s f p h a s en o i s e i n o s c i l l a t o r s . M j n i m i z a t i o n f p h a s e o i s e d i c t a t e s t h e f o l l o w i n g d e s i g nr u l e s : . . M a x i mi ze e u n l o a d e d th Q of the reactive energy by means a high RF voltage V across the l,laximize C. The limits ar e set by br eakdown r e s o n a to ra n d a h i g h ca p acitance bythefor war d bias condi ti on v o l t ag e s o f th e a cti ve d e vice and var actor and of the varactor. . of L i m iti n g sh o u l d o ccu r w i thout degr adation Q. A two- stageam p' lifier ' bias of . 9 . , i so l a te s th e l i mi ti n g por t fr om the r esonator . For war d t h e va ra cto r d u e to h i g h RF vo' ltageshould be avoided. a C h o o s e n a c t i v e d e v i c ew i t h l o w n o i s e f i g u r e F . F i s t h e n o i s e f i g u r e i n the device sees. the actual impedance environment I n ma n ya p p l i ca ti o n s i t i s pr efer able to deal with equivalent noise v ol tage of a n d n o i se cu me n t si n ce they ar e independent the sour ceim pedance.In t h e exa mp l e f F i g u re 9 , the amplifier input is coupledinto the r es onator . o dr changes astlcally as a function of t he T h e r e fo reth e so u rce i mp edance offset frequency. . M i n i mi zep h a sep e rtu rb a ti on given by the r atio of additive noise to t he l ow es t o r s i g n a l l e v e l . I n t h e s w i t c h e d e a c t a n c e s c i l l a t o r , F i g u r el 5 ' t h e h i g h i n p u t of impedance the two-stage FETamplifier allows the input powerto be F kT ca n b e r eplacedwith the r atio of noise voltage t o n e g le cte d . P, u, s i g n a l vo l ta g e a t

-18-

port(FJ' . rherimitins
s h o u l db e m a x i m a l . . .

t Obviously,he limited signal voltage,VSL'

a C h o o s e n a c t i v e d e v i c ew i t h l o w f l i c k e r n o i s e ' tr M i n i mi zeth e e ffe ct o f fl icker noise whichm odulates ansconducta nc er i nput of and output impedances the active device by low frequencyfeedbackand can input and output im pedance fur ther p r o pe r b i a s. T h e e ffe ct of m odulated a t b b e m i n i m j z e d y m a x i m i z i n gh e s t a b l e t a n k c i r c u i t c a p a c i t a n c e s w a s fo p r e vi o u sl y a d vo ca te d r a differ ent r eason. M i ni mi zeth e si g n a l p o w ertaken out without going belowthe lim its s et by additive noise. C o up l eth e si g n a l p o w e rof the r esonatorso that ther e is a continui ng of the half bandwidth the r esonator . d r o p o f p h a sen o i se b e Y ond

V o d T h e s e e s i g np r i n c i p l e s w e r ea p p l i e d i n t h e 3 1 0 t o 6 4 0 M H zC O f F i g u r e 1 5 . at of l As a n e xa mp l ee t u s ca l cu l 'atethe phasenojse per for mance this VCO o 5 0 0 M Ha n d a t l 0 0 K H z ffse t. z be T h e i n p u t p o |e r o f th e tw o -stageFET_.ampl' ifier ,can noi s e n e g l e cte d . T h e p h a sep e rtur bationf,q ( f * F ) is r eplacedby the ' s av m v o l t a ge to si g n a 'l ra ti o a t the ' i n p u t o f th e 2 n d sta g e , th e lim it' ing por t' ( accounts for both FET' s) Vn = 6nV For a 2N5397

vsL=I
C = 23pF V = lOV Qunl = 200 = 4ml,l P slg fo = SooMHz

= +(Tlgl'z (t#T(rh{. o,ookHz

l, G100kHz=-l44dBc T h e actu a l o sci l 'l a to r me asur edl42dBc.

'z

-19fr of th F i g . ' 1 0 s h o w s e p h a sen o i se per for mance some ee- r unningoscillator s c annot w d e s i g n e d i th l o w p h a sen o i se as a pr imar y goal. 0f cour se, the cur ves directly with each other since they not only differ in RF frequencies be compared b u t a l s o h a veq u i te d i ffe re n t obiectives in ter ms of tunability'

6 !t a tt .;

C'

-90

310 to 640 MHz Osc. Switclred Reactance ( @500 MHz |tor 2-6 GHz YIG-Oscillt

!t g

-100 Ei40 Cavity -110

I

\I
ut||iu \rtr,il

f6GHz
\

o
N

.5 o
o E

500MHz

i
\\ \ \ \\

.g
(J
6

-120

o g

z
o
!t

-130

lll

lllb

mnad

\ \

I o.
tt o
q,

I I
-140

or LC Oscillat

lr It

1 0 M i-lz Crystal

lr

c o

lstor
\ \

B v,
tr v, E
ql ED

-150
\

-160
\

\ -\ \
t-

-170 1 0H z

100Hz

1 kHz

10 kHz

lfi!kHz

1 MHz

Offset from Garrier(Hz) Fis. 1O

-20P h a s e o i s e h a r a c t e r i s t i co f D i v i d e r s N C s
of B e f o r e a n a l yzi n gth e p h a senoise per for mance phaselocked sour ces, l et u s c o n si d e r p h a sen o i se i n troducedby fr equencydivjder s. As the next in p a r a g r a p h 'i 1 l p o i n t o u t, they maybe the lim iting component a phas e w s l o c k 1 o o p . T h e ya l s o p l a y a k e y r o l e i n d i r e c t f r e q u e n c y y n t h e s i s . P h a s e o i se a t th e i n p u t o f the divider appear sat the divider output r educ ed n n b y N . I n t h e r e s i d u a l p h a s e o i s e m e a s u r e m eo f t F i g . l l t h i s i n p u t ( s o u r c e ) n by n o i s e co n tri b u ti o n ca n ce l sand on' ly phasenoise gener ated the divider i s n n m e a s u r e d .P h a s e o i s e d a t a r e f e r t o t h e d i v i d e d - d o ws i g n a l . A p h a s e o i s e n f l o o r o f -1 5 0 to -l 6 0 d B ci s typical for ECLdevices. The consider ablyl ow er f l o o r o f T T Ld i v i d e r s i s m e a s u r e a b oe l y i f c a r e i s t a k e n t o a v o i d s a m p l i n g ln effects.

Noise Intr oducedb.vDivider s E xa mp l eof Phase s

-lm

-t t0
I a

6 : -r20
.g a C'

ECL l(x) MHz+ t0 l9tlH90l

g -130

.! o z E -rao B
! c

2 g -r50 !
E g l/,

ECLrlEoMHr + tl (1lc05l

-160

-t70 Ot{r.t

Fig. ll

-2tfo N o i s e C o n si d e ra ti o n s r P h a s e- L

Phae Detector Vn det

Integrator Filter

Shaper Pret-une Attenuator

Fig. l2

loop ( PLL) - typical with the excepti onof a F i g . 1 ? sh o w s typ i ca l p h a s e- 1ock t h e a t t en u a to r a t th e o sci 'l l ator tuning por t. This attenuator is iustifi ed A a i n t h e f o l l o w i n g d e s i g nr u l e s . T h e o b i e c t i v e i s t o m i n i m i z e Q o u d u e t o whenwe look at r es pec ti v e a n y n o ise i n p u t. T h e fo l l o w ing design r ules em er ge t r a n s f e r fu n cti o n s: ' M i n i mi zep h a sen o i se o f the fr ee r unning VCO

Adout

1 adfi = r@

' l e o . , ( s ) i s t h e o p e n o o Pg a i n :

= *r K, Go;(s) K, A(s) K.(s) ft 3

fm Fis. 13

loop gai n' by n Ph a se o ise of the free running oscillator is r educed the T h i s l e a d s to the next rul.e.

-2?-

j g b h M a x i m i z e a n d w i d t a n d o p e n - l o o p a i n . T h e b a n d w i d t hs l i m i t e d b y a phasenoise of the fr ee- r unning V C O n u m b eo f co n stra i n ts. B y com par ing r w i t h ph a sen o i se co n tri b u ti ons fr om the r efer encesour ce, the divider is d o u t p ut,a n d tl e p h a se e te cto r, the bandwidth deter m ined. tr A l l 3 p h a sen o i se so u rce shavethe same ansfer function: aoo*=

a|ret

r* t Gol( s)

senseon' ly as long as r efer ence m M a x i mi zi n g e l o o p b a n d width akes th d n o i s e ( o r d ' i v i d e r n o i s e , o r p h a s e e t e c t o r n o i s e ) m u l t i p ' l i e db y N d o e sn o t e x c e e d t h e p ha sen o i se o f th e fre e- r unningVC0. 0 t h e r c o n s i d e r a t i o n ss u c ha s t h e f i l t e r i n g o f t h e r e f e r e n c es i g n a l o r , s p u r i o u so n t h e r e f e r e n c es i g n a l a n d l o o p s t a b i l i t y ' c a n d e t e r mi n e e ch o i ce o f th e bandwidth. th m A v o i d d i v i d e r s i f p o s s i b ' l e . A s n o t e da b o v e ,t h e y c a u s e u l t i p l i c a t i o n b y N o f th e re fe re n ce , p h asedetector , and divider output phasenoise. M i n i mi zei n te g ra to r, sh a p erand attenuator noise. The choice of impe danc e b l e v e l s a n d p r e t u n ef i l t e r i n g m i g h t b e c o n s t r a i n e d y s w i t c h i n gs p e e d c o n s de ra tio n s. i p M a x i m i ze h a sed e te cto r g a in K*. 'l A n y n oi se i n p u t fo l l o w i n g the phasedetector is reducedby ,\ , . t
0

ojoul_
Vn int

=- 1 K^

N rI r - - I ' Gog(s)

Minimizehe sensitivity, Ko t phase oisedueto Vnr, V . and n naKo

ot fuH'rv], the V C 0 . G i v e na chosenbandw i dth,

V i s p r o p o r t i o n a lto Ko. nt

H=',;fu

-23-

b a E m p l o y n a t t e n u a t o ra n d m i n i m i z eK u ( s ) . A g a i n , g i v e n a c h o s e n a n d w i d t h ' n o i se i n p u ts p re ce d i n gth e attenuator ar e r educedby Ku( s) . This hol ds , a l s o f o r n o i s e o u t s i d e t h e l o o p b a n d w i d t h . F o r e x a m p l e p h a s en o i s e o u t s i d e to: ca t h e l o o p b a n d w i d th u sedbY Vn, amounts 1 A d o u t= K " (s) , K o l un,na K T h e a t t e n u a t o ri s u s u a l l y a l e a d - l a g n e t w o r k .

n u T h e f o l l o w i n g e q u a t i o ns u m s p a l l t h e p h a s e o i s e c o n t r i b u t i o n s .

= aolu,(s) (;;r'

* a2o6;,r,1 [420,"1t,t

- ir(th

*nLr'd' +frz v2n,{s} u,?.,,1 * o",t'rV2n;n1(s) I Iv2"

the T h e g r ou p i n go f th e e q u a ti o nem phasizes effect of r efer enceand divi der d n o i s e , p h a s e e t e c t o rg a i n a n d o s c i ' l l a t o r n o i s e a n d s e n s i t i v i t y .

-24-

Loop i A c t u a l Re su l tsA ch i e ve d n a LowNoise Refer ence to o I n t h e fo l l o w i n g e xa mp l e f a phaselock loop ( Pt- L) ,effor ts wer e made a e m p l o y l l t h e l i s t e d d e s i g nr u l e s . Signal Generator As the frequencyreference loop of the HP8662ASynthesized ( F i g . 1 4 ) , t h e l o o p ' s f u n c t i o n i s t o f i l t e r t h e h i g h s p u r i o u sc o n t e n to f a re 3 2 0 - 6 4 0 MH zfe re n ceso u rce . The r efer encesour ceis dir ectly synthesiz ed steps, and contains - 40dBcspuri ous f r o m m u l tj p l e s o f l OMH z, ps in 2OtlHz ste s s i g n a l s . T h e l o o p r e d u c e s p u r i o u ss i g n a l s t o - l 0 0 d B ca n d , a s a n a d d i t i o n a l f u n c t i o n s , p r o v i d e sl Q M H s t e p sa n d s w j t c h e si n l e s s t h a n 5 O U s e c ' z
10 or 20 MHz SwitchedRerctanceOsc.

10 or 20 MHz

310 to 620 MHz in 10 MHz steps -100 dBc Spurious 320-640 MHz in 20 MHz stePs -40 dBc Spurious

1OMHz X-Oscillator

Fig.l4 loop as a 320- 640M H z T h e 3 1 0-6 2 0 MH z Q f th e l o cp, also used in a second VC o r r V C o ,h a s a n o v e l s w i t c h e d e a c t a n c e e s o n a t o r( F i g . 1 5 ) . I t c o n s i s t s o f 5 i n d u c t or a rra ys sw i tch e di n a binar y fashion. They pr ovide 32 fr equen c y fre cover age,the var actor has to cover onl y s t e p s . F o r a co n ti n u o u s quency w' VCO ith a var actor cover ing l O M H zn te rva l s. C o mp a reto a conventional d i r ra t h e e n ti re 3 .|0 to 6 2 0 l " l H z nge, this switchedschem eesults in dr astica'l 'l y r e d u c e d s c iI l a t o r s e n s i t i v i t y . o

-25-

T h e n a tu re o f th e re so n a to ralso allows ver y high signal levels ( tt0Vp.uk ) , f h i g h Q ( 1 5 0 - 2 5 0 ) , a s t s w i t c h i n g ,a n d p r e c i s e p r e t u n i n g '

Oscillator Reactance 310-640 MHzSwitched

Frsqwncy InPut

Fig. t5

-26-

s T h i s l o o p a c h ' i e v ea n o i s e f l o o r o f - l 4 3 d B ca s c l o s e i n a s l 0 k H z ' W i t h i n l 0 k H z , n o i s e o f t h e re fe re n cesection is dominant.

(J

6 !,
N

-120
\

tr o () o
o

-130

tl

I I
Loop Noisl of Reference Phase Residual @ SeEtion 500 MHz includingReference
I

z (l'
s

o
v,

o 4 E' c to ll o

-140

r--__\
-

p u) - 1 5 0 o
(tt

Phase Noiseof Loop only Reference

.g v,
.o

p
E

va (D

-160 1 kHz 10kHz 100kHz Offset * 1 MHz

Fig. l6

-27-

Mu R e f e r e n ce l ti P li ca ti o n - typically a 5 or ' lQMHz so Sy n t h e si ze d u rce su se a re fer enceoscillator To ar r ive at X - o s c i l la to r w i th e xce l l e n t shor t and long ter m stability' most cr ucial r l o w p h a sen o i se si g n a l s i n th e RF and micr owaveange the r ange' f a c t o r i s h o wth e re fe re n ces ignal is m ultiplied into the RF signal o s F i g . 1 7 co mp a re 3 me th o d s f obtaining a low phasenoise 640M Hz z s t a r t i n g w i th a l OMH crysta l oscillator '

640 MHz

160 MHz X'Filter

C Sc*reme 640 MHz

160MHz X-Osc.
Sdpme A 640 MHz

+ OrSampler lx6al
H to MHzX-osc.
10 MHzX'O:c.

Fig.17

-28-

6 E'
N

(,

-90

.E - 1 1 0
.9 \ \

.E

'6 2
o 0
.!

o o U'

L-a\

-1

\
\

X, to MHz 'Osc.
\

c -1 !o

u, U'
0' f

50

\-e
r\\
\-_
r.D

tc

.8 - 1 70

ID

1 0H z

100 Hz

1 kHz Offset Fig.l8

10 kHz

lfi) kHz

p n A Method results in straight multiplication of the reference hase oise. M u l t i p ' l i c a t i o nc a n b e d o n eb y d o u b l i n gs i x t i m e s o r m u l t i p l y i n g w i t h a h i g h e r oscillator noise is incr easedb y 36d8. o r d e r mu l ti p l 1 e r o r sa mp 'l er . Refer ence B M e t h o d i s a l so stra 'i g h t multiplication, but at appr opr iatefr equencyl ev el s noi ( 4 0 a n d l 6 0 MH z), a rro u r a ndcr ystal filter s ar e used to r educesideband s e. b n crystal oscillator to achievea low phasenoi s e a C M e t h o d e mp l o ys l 6 0 MH z d c f l o o r . I t i s l o c k e dt o t h e l o M H z r y s t a l o s c i l l a t o r . A s p r e v ' i o u s l y i s c u s s e d , the phasenoise of the by o t h e b an d w i d th f th e l o o p 'i s deter m ined compar ing crysta l oscillator with noise of the r efer enceosci l l ator f r e e - r u n n i n gl 6 0 MH z a n dd i v i d e r n o i s em u l t i p l i e d b y 1 6 . A s p l o t C i n d i c a t e s , d i v i d e r n o i s e e d o m i n a t e i n t h i s c a s e , r e s u l t i n g i n h i g h e r c l o s e - i n n o i s e w i t h s c h e mC s t h a n w i th a n y o f th e o th e r schem es.

- 29B. Potential pr ob l em s usesm ethod S S T h e H p 8 6 6 2 A yn th e si ze d i g nal Gener ator a o f t h i s a p p ro a ch re : . . A d d i t i v e n o i s e i n t h e f i r s t s t a g e so f m u l t i p l i c a t i o n . L o wf r e q u e n cyd e vi ce n o i se and powersupply noise, causingphase i m o d u l a t i o nn a m p l i f i e r s , m o s t s e n s i t i v e a g a i n i n t h e f i r s t s t a g e s of multiplication. n Doubler oise. Crystal filter noise. 'in crystal f i I ters. ng c l',li crophoni noi se i nduci phasenoi se

. . .

Signal GeneratorSlstem of overal'l PhaseNoise Performance a S.vnthesized have beenoptimizedfor low phasenoise. T hey S o f a r , ci rcu i ts a n d mo d u l e s used f o r m t h e b u i l d i n g b l o cks fo r synthesizer s. The par ticular examples Signal Gener ator . The gr aph Synthesized e a r l i e r a re p a rt o f th e n e wHP8662A p n t o f F i g . l 9 b e l o ws h o w s h e d y p i c a l r e s i d u a l s i n g l e s i d e b a n d h a s e o i s e o f t h e s y ste m. B e l o wl 0 kH z, p h asenoise of the r efer encesection dom inates . Froml0 to 500 kHz the reference loop and sumloop determinethe phase n o i s e p e rfo rma n ce .F a rth e r out the sumloop oscillator is the dominan t p h a s en o i se so u rce . with an older synthesizerdesign of signifi c antl y syste mi s co mp a red T h e 8 6 62 A frequencyrange' It different structure, the 8660C/86602A. covers the Same w b u t w a s n o t d e si g n e d i th l o w phasenoise as a pr im ar y objective. The H P86408 excellent phasenoise per for c a v i t y -tu n e d g e n e ra to ri s a 'lso included, showing clos e- i n o a m a n c e t 2 0 kH z ffse t a n d fa r ther out. 0f cour se, it cannotcom pete g w i t h s y n th e si ze d e n e ra to rs.
2?5-3.S5 GHr/ 100 MHz Stpr 310-G20 MHe/ l0 MHa

fht#*"Elo
O#

H-:3-ts
1f20 rilHr/
I Hr SoF

\tu-

396{.05 t l|lSF

GHt/ l0ltlHe X-Orc.

8660C/86602A Fig.l9

86624

-30-

.g
.9

3 o
o o 1t

-90

= co
I

-100

.g
.2 o
0,

-110

orEt an U' E .9 ct

(t, I E

-120

-130

TYPICAL RECEIVER CHANNEL SPACING

10 Hz

1 0 0H z

1 kHz

l 0 k H z 1fi) kHz

Offset from Carrier

Fig.?0

is design consider ations a synthes i z er T h e o v e ra l l re su l t o f th e pr eceding but also ver y low phas e w i t h no t o n l y e xce p ti o n a lclose- in noise per for m ance' wher etr ad' itionally cavity osc i l l ator s n o i s e a t fa rth e r-o u t o ffse t fr equencies ( w e r e f ar su p e ri o r. w i th a switching speedof500usec RF settling) the H P8662A of th a l s o co mb i n e s e u su a l 'l yconflicting r equir ements low phasenoise w i th h i g h f r e q u e n cya g i l i tY .

-31-

of Measurement PhaseNoise o T h e e m ph a si s n l o w p h a sen o i se sour cesin this paperalso guides the will be techniques noise measur ement s e l e c t i on o f te st me th o d s. P hase phasenoise4 measur eable. o c o m p a r edn th e b a si s o f mi n i mum Technique Measurement Frequenc.v Heterod.vne with per iod counter s . I n t h e t i me d o ma i n ,fre q u e n c ystability is measur ed by G i v e na sta b l e re fe re n ceS o u r ce,the r esolution is gr eat]y enhanced ng. heterodyni tgz t, af . -1: Resolution: ,o = - fo af
fo fD
T

difference = minimumfractionalfrequency = difference frequencY I = sample time, minimum7 = l; = leastdigit of Periodcount

Ar

!
MIxER I I

plss IAMPLIFIER FTLTER I

rotn

OFFSET REFERENCE OSCILLATOR

CALCULATOR

Fig. 2l

- 3?-

computer co 1 4 i t hc o mp u ti n g u n te rso y can be obtainedconveniently. Desktop Stability Analyzer , conver t tim e Fr l b a s e ds yste ms i ke th e H P 5 3 90A equency noise floor is given by: da d o m a i n ta i n to sp e ctra l d e nsities. The system

= + 4system-173 loe

Ie.rH.]

downto For example:0 f* = lHz with fo = l0Hz the systemcan measure ' its advantage - 1 5 3 d Bc. C o mp a re di th o th er methods w this techniqueloses q u i c k l y a b o veF o u ri e r fre q u enciesgr eater than l00Hz. n P h a s e o i seMe a su re mew itth Spectr um Analyzer N a R F s p e ctru m n a l yze rsme a sur e the spectr al density J dir ectly, pr ovided t h a t t h e p h a sen o i se o f th e sour ceundertest is significantly aboveits AMn o ise . B y d o w nco n ve rti n gw i th a clean r efer encesour ce, AMnoise of the sourc e if u n d e r te st ca n b e su p p re ss ed it is usedas the high level L0 dr ive for the mixer. analy z er ar L i m i t a ti o n s o f th i s d i re ct method e phasenoise of the spectr um L 0 , d yn a mi c n g ea n d re so l ution. ra e a A n R F s p e c t r u m n a l y z e r r i t h aY I Go s c i l l a t o r a s L 0 c a n m e a s u r4 @t 0 0 k H z -l L0 d o w nt o a p p ro xi ma te l y 2 0 d Bc. Spectr um analyzer swith synthesized me closer in. a l l o r p h a se n o i se a su re ments
Source Under Test Source UnderTest Spectrum Analyzer

Fig. ?2

Fig.23

l, l.

-33-

Discr iminator n N P h a s e oi seMe a su re mew itth Fr equencv The spectral density of frequencyfluctuations SOr(f*) of the source under discr im inator t e s t i s o b ta i n e dw h e nth e si gnal is applied to a fr equency fashion. e i t h e r di re ct'l y o r i n a h e te rodyne
1

Afr.s = lG

AVrms
1

= s61(f',,)

,our*.)2{t Ht)

AVn r-s

Avtmt

Fig.24

Source Under Test f1

Spectrum Analyzer

F'i9.25

-34-

fro m S 6t ( t r ) i s ca l cu l a te d

= c (r,'r) i

t1

f,z

sar(tm)

oVn.,n, , the A s s u m i n a n o i se fl o o r o f the discriminator representedby g s y s t e mn o i se to " 4 (r*) i s

1 Jsyste, (fm) = f K12

(avn Hz) r,.,,r)2(1

discr im inator of I t i n d i ca te s th e b a si c d ra wback the use of the fr equency p n i m e t h o dn d e t e r m i n i n g h a s e o j s e 4 ( f r ) o f a s o u r c e . T h e s y s t e m ' sn o i s e a f l o o r ri se s w i th fr-z to w ar dstow oiti6ts. This assum es white spec tr um of AVn. analyzer ( A f.., mo U s i n g th e 8 9 0 1 A d u l a ti o n = .5Hz) for example, the as , d f r e q u e n cy i scri mi n a to r, I.system @lkHz will be - l05dBc' Discr im inator D e l a v Li n e a n d Mi xe r a s F requenc.v A m i x e r o p e ra ti n g a s a p h a sedetector and a delay line havethe combined d e f f e c t o f a fre q u e n cy j scrim' inatory' ielding again Sat( tr ) '

RF Spectrum Analyzer AVn.ts Power Splitter or Coupler Source Under Test

AVr,nt

Attenuator Fig.27 WaveAnalYzer AnalYzer Spectrum

sa/f6)

Fig. 26

- 35-

to Both inputs to the mixer haveto be in quadrature assuremaxlmum phase ensitivity. s Theoutput voltageAVof the mixer is proportionalto the frequency detectorconstantk$ and has a deviationAf of the source'to the phase periodic ("f AV = KrA* ) on a.o.na.nce fmrd.

Av=K*toftpxAo
7forf, ..7
^' A'rms' 1

,in fStd\

16 = DefayTime DetectorConstant k, = Phase beatsignal = Vbeat,peakfor sinusoidal

AVr-s

J(fm)=-

ryd
( A V r m r ) 2{ t l t . )

=f1 so1(r') s o 1 ( f r= f f f i ) W

(au'rd1tt

":l

. !i41rr.r= 1ffi2

can again be evaluatedby r eplacing AV* , T h e s e n si ti vi ty o f th e system causedby frequencyfluctuations of the sourcewith AVn.,,, representing mixer noiseplus noiseof the followingamplifier' tr , ' & s y s t e m t ' m=- 2 " 1 (1 {avn ,,.,,,r}2 Hz)
r o _ t / v 2 - . rdz enlz koz2 r 2

!m2

w i th t J i t h wh i te mi xe r (+ a mp l i fi er ) noise ttr e systemsensitivity decr eases floor to f ^ ' 2 . F l i cke r ch a ra cte ri stic of the m ixer noise causesthe noise rise with fr-3 towards low offsets.
r-l f l extensive'ly. 4system@lkHz can this method Reference [oJ, LzJ explores be as lowas -ll5dBc.

- 35-

with TwoSoUrge!and PhaseDetector PhaseNoise Measurement

Avn rtt

Attenuator

AVr.,

-t

tt-

sao(fm)

F
Fig. 27

Analyzer Wave AnalYzer Spectrum DigitalAnalYzer

the spectr al to T h e m o st d i re ct a n d a l so most sensitive m ethod m easur e d e n s i ty o f p h a sen o i se s^ o (fm) r equir es 2 sour ces- one or both of them m m a yb e th e d e vi ce (s) u n d e rtest - and a doublebalanced ixer usedas a phas e d e t e c to r. T h e R F a n d L 0 i n put to the mixer shouldbe in phasequadr atur e phase quadratureassuresmaximum indicated by 0 Vpg at the IF port. Good m AM s e n s i ti vi ty k0 a n d mi n i mu m sensitiv' ity. lnlitha linear ' ly oper at' ing i x er o whenboth k 0 e q u a l s th e p e a k vo l ta g e of the sinusoidal beat signal pr oduced sourcesare frequencyoffset.

-37-

por t is W h e n o th si g n a l s a re se t i n quadr atur e,the voltage AV at the IF b the two signals' p r o p o r ti o n a l to th e fl u ctu a ti ng phasediffer ence between

A0 rms=6
Sor(fn')=
1

Vr', ( avr ,' ,r ) 2( tttz) Hz) avrms)z(1 - t 2 VB2r., vg2p""L (1 ( Avrms)2 Hz) VB2r*

detector constant kd = Phase = Vg Peakfor sinusoidal beatsignal

1 I (f,,,) = 2 S6p(fn,l = 4

analyzer can be read from The calibration of the waveanalyzer or spectrum the 0 dB reference level is to be the aboveequations. For a plot off(f*) -6dB offset has to be corrected set 6dB abovethe level of the beat signal. The analyzer with log by +l.odB for a waveanalyzer and by +2.5d8 for a spectrum havetobeapplied' correctionsmay amplifier and averagedetector. In addition, noisebandwidth phas e in S i n c e t he p h a sen o i se o f b o th sour cesis m easur ed this system,the I for definite data on the perfonnance one of them needsto be known of noise lf li to knowthat the actual phase other source. Frequently it is sufficient measured noise of the dominantsource can not deviate morethan 3dB from the r' with n d a t a . If 3 u n kn o w so u rce sar e available, 3 measur ements 3 differ e nt s s o u r c eco mb i n a ti o n yi e l d sufficient data to calculate accur ately each
.

i n d i v i d u a l p e rfo rma n ce . phaseQ uadr atur e.* F i g . 2 7 i n d i ca te s a n a ffo w bandphaselock loop whichm aintains ld for sourceswhich are not sufficiently phasestable over the period of the i;:-, am plifier s shouldpr event iniection lock 'i ngof T m e a s u re me n t. h e tw o i so l a tion t h e s o u rce s. .'

-38-

test R e s i d u a lp h a sen o i se me a su r em ents one or two devices Iike am p' lifier s , n ( d i v i d e r s ( F i g . l l ) , s y n t h e s i z e r s F i g . 2 9 ) , d r i v e n b y o n ec o m n os o u r c e . S i n c e t h i s so u rcei s n o t p h asenoise fr ee, it is impor tantto knowthe d e g r e eo f ca n ce l l a ti o n a s fu nction of Four ier fr equency' T h e n o i se fl o o r o f th e systemis establjshedby the equivalent noise mixer noise as well as the v o l t a g e A V na t th e mi xe r o u tput. It r epr esents e q u i v a l e n tn o i s e v o l t a g e o f t h e f o l l o w i n g a m p l i f i e r .
* . tytt"tt'm'1 4 (1 (aVn ,n,r12 Hz) VB2r*

with a high level m ixer N o i s e f l o o rs cl o se to -l 8 0 d Bccan be achieved a n d l o w n o i se p o rt a mp l i fi e r. The noise floor incr easeswith fr - l due to noise floor of - l66dBc@ lkH z t h e f l i cke r ch a ra cte ri sti c of lvn. System h a v e b e e nre a l i ze d . hav e of lo I n n r e asu ri n g w p h a sen o i se sour cesa number potential pr oblems to to be understood avoid erroneousdata: . I f tw o so u rce sa re p h a selocked to m aintain phasequadr atur e,it has to is b e in su re d th a t th e l o ck bandwidth significantly lower than the low es t o F o uri e r fre q u e n cy f i n ter est. Evenwith no apparent phasefeedback,2 sourcescan be phaselocked - i n j e c t i o n l o c k e d -r e s u l t i n g i n s u p p r e s s ec l o s e - i n p h a s e o i s e . n d setting i s thr A Mn o i se o f th e R F si g n a l can com e oughif the quadr atur e su n o t ma i n ta i n e d ffi ci e n tly. setting w' ill also lower the effective D e v i a ti o n fro m th e q u a d ratur e p h a sed e te cto r co n sta n t. N o n -l i n e a ro p e ra ti o n o f the m ixer r esults in a calibr ation effor . A n o n -si n u so i d a R F si g nal causesk0 to deviate fr om vBpeak. l input can be satur ateddur ing cal i br ati on ana' lyzer T h e a mp l i fi e r o r sp e ctrum m o r b y h i g h s p u r i o u ss i g n a l s l i k e l i n e f r e q u e n c y u l t i p l e s .

. . . .

-39-

sp c l o se l y sp a ce d u ri o u s s uch as multiples of 60Hzmaygive the appe ar anc e p o f c o n ti n u o u s h a sen o i se wheninsufficient r esolution and aver agin g analYzer. is used on the sPectrum going fr om calibr ation to in I m p e d a n ce te rfa ce s sh o uld r em ainunchanged measurement. source might systemsphaseno'iseof the corffnon In res.idualmeasurement b e i n su ffi ci e n tl y ca n ce l leddue to impr oper lyhigh delay tim e differ enc es betweenthe two branches. Noise from powersupp'liesfor devices under test or the narrow band contr ibutor of phasenoise. p h a sel o ck l o o p ca n b e a dOm inant like the oscilloscope, analyzer ' counter ' P e r i p h e ra l i n stru me n ta tion se. can i nj ect no'i DVl4, n M i c r o p h o n i n o i s e m i g h t ' e x c i t es i g n i f i c a n t p h a s e o i s e i n d e v i c e s . c

SourceUnderTect

Switchedin for Calibration

l-** r*l
r--J
1OMHz Reference {ReridualNoiseTast} ReferenceSource High Lwd Mixer

Desktop ComPuter

Automatic Calibration Automatic QradratureSetting

Fig. 28

-40-

Fig.29 and have beendeve' lo ped D e s pi tea l l o f th e se h a za r ds,autom atictest systems operatedsuccessfu.|ly.|-Ret.6]Fig.23showsasystemwhichmeasures Synthesizer . It i s a a u t o ma ti ca l l yth e re si d u a l phasenoise of the 8662A r lOM Hzefer ence x use one com non r e s i d u a l te st si n ce b o th i nstr uments pr obing the se o s c i l l a to r. Qu a d ra tu re tting is convenientlycontr olied by of phaseadvance one b e a t si g n a l w i th a d i g i ta l voltmeter and stoppingthe 0' s y n t h e si ze rw h e nth e b e a t si9na1voltage is sufficiently close to AutomaticspectrumAnalyzer The two plots of Fig. 29 were donewith the 3044A spur ioussigna'l s ' c o v e ri n g l o H z to l 3 MH z. T he tgst systemalso measur es points of They appearrather broad on this chart due to a limited number data signa'l Generatoris Synthesized per decade. Again, the older 8660C/86602A with the new8662A. compared

- 41Acknowledgement and Swain, RogerMuat, John Richar dson T h e a u t h o r th a n ks S ki p C ri l l y, Howar d J o h n M i n ckfo r h e l p fu l d i scu ssionsand conm ents. 0f special value wer e the on o s h a r e dexp e ri e n ce s f B i l l Chan r efer encemultiplication, Fr ed Ives on of p h a s e l o ck o o p s a n d R o l a n dHassun, oiect Manager the HP8562A. Pr l

Glossary Symbols of
A(sl B FKTB fo tTransferfunction of amplifier Bandwidth Availablenoisepower in bandwidth B Carrier frequency Cornerfrequencyof flicker noise offset-, modulation, basebandFourierfrequency (sideband-, frequency) frequency Instantaneous Instantaneousrequencyf luctuation f Peakdeviationof sinusoidal frequencymodulation

f{t, af(t) afpsak Afre, ResidualFM Go1(s! Open loop egin of phaselock loop K" (sl Transferfunction of attenuator Ko Gain constantof voltagetunableoscillator Ks Straperconstant Phase Ko detector gain Singte sidebandphasenoiseto total signalpower in a 1 Hz tltnl P3 PrsB P. ", ount
bandwidth Signalpower Povrcrof singlesideband Availablesignalpower

Ouality factor of unloaded resonator Complexfrequency 56g(fn'l Spectraldensity of frequencyfluctuations (rml Spectral density of fractional frequency fluctuations \ sae(fml Spectraldensity of phaseperturbation sao(fml Spectral density of phasenoise Time yariable t Instantaneous v(tl voltage Peakamplitudeof sinusoidal VsL signalat I imiting port (1 Hz bandwidth) Equivalentnoisevoltage Vn
3

rt,

v. r, we v (tl ae(tl or2l.'l

Availablesignafvoltage Maximum energystored in capacitor Instantaneous fractional frequencyoffset from nominal frequency Instantaneous fluctuation of phaseperturbance

Allan variance t Sampletime phasef luctuation Instantaneous aoltl phasemodulation,alsomodulation A0peak Peakdeviationof sinusoidal index Angular frequency

- 42-

References
1)
of Frequency Chie, A. R., Cutter, [-.S.,et al, "Characterization Barnes,J.A.

May No. lM-20, 2, pp. 105'120, 1971' and on tEee'trans. tnstr. fUeai. SiaUiiii;;;Eighth Annu_al Procedures", Fischer,M. C., "Frequency Stability Measurement Intbrval Applicationsand PlanningMeeting,Dec' 1976' Time and Time Precise and and white Frequency and Phase of D. J. Healey,lll,,,Flicker Frequency on Freq' PhaseFluciuationsin FrequencySources,"Proc. 26th Annual Symp. Control, Fort Monmouth, N. J., pp. 43'49, June 1972' Noise in the Phase staff, "understandingand Measuring Hewlett-Packard FrequencyDomain," Application Note 207, October 1976' IntrocJuction" A Howe, D.A., "FrequencyDomainStability Measurements: Tutorial NBS TechnicalNote 679, March 1976. Phase Lance,A.L., Seal,W.D' Mendozo,F. G. and Hudson,N'W" "Automating Proc' of the 31st Annual in Noise Measurements the FrequencyDomain", Symposiumon FrequencyControl, June 1977' Halford' F' Lance,A.L., Seal,W.D., Hudson,N.W', Mendoza, G', and Donald ,,Phase Analysis," conferenceon using cross-Spectrum Noise Measurements June 1978 Ottawa, Canada, Measurements, PrecisionElectromagnetic Proc' Leeson,D.8., "A Simple Model of Feedbackoscillator Noise spectrum," 1966" IEEE L, Vol. 54,'pp.329'330, February of Leeson's G., sauvage, "PhaseNoise in oscillators; A MathematicalAnalysis ' Vol lM-26, No' 4' Dec' 1977' and Meas., Modei', f EEE Trans.on Instr. and--^ TechnicalNote 632, High ir"qu"n"y'and MicrowaveSignals",NBS Measurement: Jan.1973.

2l
3)

4l 5) 6)

7l

8) 9)

1 0 ) Shoaf, J. H., Halford, D., Risley,A.S., "Frequency Stability Specification