Design and implementation of a 6-GHz array of two differential oscillators coupled through a MOS transistor network

During the past decade, coupled oscillators have shown their efficiency as simple methods for phase control in microwave antenna arrays, and hence as alternatives to conventional electronic beam steering methods. This paper describes the design and the implementation of a fully monolithic coupled-oscillator array, operating at 6 GHz in 0.25 μm BICMOS SiGe process. A novel and original method, based on the use of a MOS transistor, for coupling the differential oscillators is developed and presented. At 2.5 V power supply voltage, and a power dissipation of only 62.5 mW, the coupled oscillators array features a simulated phase noise of -124.8 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz frequency offset from a 6.01 GHz carrier, giving a simulated phase progression that was continuously variable over the range -84 ° <; Δ□ <; 84 ° and -96° <; Δ□ <; 96°.