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Design and Analysis of Charge-Pump Based Frequency Synthesizers

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Publication Type:

Licentiate Thesis

Publisher:

Mälardalen University Press


Abstract

Most telecommunication systems employ modulation techniques that require the transceiver to be capable of accurately estimating the phase of the transmission signal. The frequency synthesizer is a key element and extensively utilized to synthesize frequencies for such radio-frequency communication systems. A common topology for the frequency synthesizer is the charge-pump based phase-locked loop. The development and design of frequency synthesizer is known to be a complex and time-consuming task, aggravated by the vast difference in frequencies between the output and the internal signals. It is often necessary to perform long transient simulations with short time steps to achieve reliable results. This thesis will treat these difficulties and propose solutions to some of the design issues that concerns the frequency synthesizer.In most modern frequency synthesizers the phase detection circuits are capable of detecting both the frequency and phase difference. Such phase detectors are collectively known as phase-frequency detectors and generally employ some kind of memory functionality. The inherited memory in the phase-frequency detectors rouse the need for new models describing the synthesizer. Throughout this thesis the dynamic and noise behavior in the presence of phase-frequency detector are especially investigated. The derived theory and conclusions are validated through earlier presented research as well as simulations of both the phase-frequency detector and the frequency synthesizer.A high reference frequency is often sought after in frequency synthesizers, since it then becomes possible to lower the division ratio in the frequency synthesizer. This will in turn lower the close-in phase noise of the synthesizer as well as decrease the power consumption of the divider chain. Unfortunately, it has also been shown that the size of the phase-frequency detectors blind-zone is directly proportional to the reference input frequency. Consequently, frequency synthesizers, utilizing high reference frequencies, will also have to include the effects of the phase-frequency detector's blind zone to accurately estimate the frequency synthesizer behavior. The blind-zone effect will become even more important as the tendency for high reference frequencies is further pursued. This thesis, therefore, investigates the influence of the phase-frequency detector blind zone. The results from these investigations have shown that a large blind zone is deteriorative for the settling time, but has little influence on the synthesizer noise performance. However, for an exceptional large blind zone there is the possibility that noise, present in the circuit, will force the synthesizer out of the locked condition.Nonlinear models are developed and utilized to fully capture the frequency synthesizer's dynamic behavior both in the locked and out-of-locked condition. The models are presented in the state-space form to facilitate simulations and to describe the internal variables within the synthesizer. Two different closed formulas for the settling time are given for a synthesizer with and without a phase-frequency detector exhibiting blind zone.For the phase noise performance in the frequency synthesizer the nonlinear state-space model has been expanded with time-domain noise sources correlated according to the input noise sources. The linearized phase-domain noise model is compared to the state-space model. The comparison shows that the phase-domain model describes the phase noise property of the synthesizer well below the loops bandwidth. However, for offsets larger than the loop bandwidth the linearized phase-domain is insufficient.

Bibtex

@misc{Johnson748,
author = {Tord Johnson},
title = {Design and Analysis of Charge-Pump Based Frequency Synthesizers},
number = {46},
month = {April},
year = {2005},
publisher = {M{\"a}lardalen University Press},
url = {http://www.es.mdu.se/publications/748-}
}