Optimum Phase Noise Measurements for Every Application

The phase noise of VCOs (voltage controlled oscillators) is dertermining essentially the transmission properties of communication systems. Therefore, the measurement of these quantities is an important aspect already during the development and also later on for the characterization of the complete circuit. There are several concepts to measure phase noise, however, all principles have their advantages and disadvantages. For each application, the most suitable method has to be selected carefully. In this paper, the different methods are compared, measurement setups are shown, and exemplary results will be discussed.