Phase-locked-loop control of active microstrip patch antennas

Author

Andrews, John W. ; Hall, Peter S.

Author_Institution

Sch. of Electron. & Electr. Eng., Univ. of Birmingham, UK

Volume

50

Issue

1

fYear

2002

fDate

1/1/2002 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

201

Lastpage

206

Abstract

Active patch antennas are simple to fabricate, compact, and low cost, but have inherently poor phase noise and stability. In this paper, a phase-locked loop (PLL) integrated with a 4-GHz active patch antenna was investigated in order to reduce the phase noise and stabilize the frequency of the oscillator. Both these aims were realized by careful integration and optimization of the PLL parameters. Experimental results showed that a phase noise reduction in excess of 55 dB was achieved using this technique. A standalone voltage-controlled oscillator and passive patch technique can provide lower phase noise, but the active patch lends itself to effective integration. Measurement techniques were demonstrated to measure the phase noise and stability of the patch oscillator

Keywords

active antennas; frequency stability; microstrip antennas; phase locked loops; phase noise; voltage-controlled oscillators; 4 GHz; PLL parameters; active microstrip patch antennas; frequency stability; measurement techniques; phase noise; phase-locked-loop control; standalone voltage-controlled oscillator; Costs; Frequency; Measurement techniques; Microstrip antennas; Noise measurement; Patch antennas; Phase locked loops; Phase noise; Stability; Voltage-controlled oscillators;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microwave Theory and Techniques, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9480

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/22.981266

Filename

981266