Title :
An Active Low-Noise Receiver With Electronic Beamforming Capability at
-Band Frequencies
Author :
Grubinger, Hannes ; Barth, Helmut ; Vahldieck, Ruediger
Author_Institution :
ETH Zurich, Zurich
fDate :
5/1/2008 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Injection-locked voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) are used for a novel implementation of low-noise receivers used for beamforming. A continuous per-receiver phase shift of 400deg is achieved by locking a low-Q VCO and frequency doubling the signal. The used locking circuit and its locking gain are optimized to obtain a large locking range and a continuous phase-tuning characteristic. Phase noise is minimized by developing a high-Q reference oscillator. The achieved low noise figure of only 2.5 dB enables excellent reception of low-power signals. The realization on a RT/Duroid epsivr=10.2 substrate yields a highly compact module, which serves as a testbed for a planned implementation in low-temperature co-fired ceramic technology.
Keywords :
injection locked oscillators; millimetre wave receivers; phase noise; reference circuits; voltage-controlled oscillators; Ka-band frequencies; VCO; active low-noise receiver; electronic beamforming capability; injection-locked voltage-controlled oscillators; locking circuit; locking gain; low noise figure; noise figure 2.5 dB; phase noise; phase shift; phase-tuning characteristic; reference oscillator; Beamforming; injection locking; low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC); phased arrays; voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO);
Journal_Title :
Microwave Theory and Techniques, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TMTT.2008.921284