APPENDIX A

Design of an Oscillator Using

Large-Signal S-Parameters

A.1 PARALLEL RESONATOR OSCILLATOR

Figure A-1 is a numerical calculation of a 3000 MHz oscillator based on parallel

feedback using large-signal S-parameters. This example is of particular interest

22000 3800

1000 pF
220 nH

Res Res
lnd

Cap
Bias
VCC +
- V:5 V
Cap
c
Bip 100 pF p2
Cap
b bFp520
_l ib1 IC = 20 mA, VCE = 2 V
Cap

4.7 pF

1 nF
C1
0.52 nH

e osc
lnd

L2 ptr
0.51 nH
lnd

L3
Res

140
100 pF
Cap

Nois : Bipnoise

Figure A-1 A 3000 MHz oscillator using a BFP520 transistor operating at 2 V and 20 mA.
In this case, capacitor C2 needs to be replaced by an inductor L3 which tunes out the collector
emitter capacitance to achieve the optimum value. The 1 nF on the left is a DC separation
capacitor. This design is optimized for output power.

The Design of Modern Microwave Oscillators for Wireless Applications: Theory and Optimization,
by Ulrich L. Rohde, Ajay Kumar Poddar, Georg Böck
Copyright # 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc., ISBN 0-471-72342-8

381
382 DESIGN OF AN OSCILLATOR USING LARGE-SIGNAL S-PARAMETERS

because it requires an inductor instead of the familiar capacitor, C2, between base
and emitter. The circuit as such is a Colpitts oscillator.
The measured large-signal Y-parameter data (Ic ¼ 20 mA, Vce ¼ 2 V) at
3000 MHz are:

Y11 ¼ G11 þ jB11 ¼ (11:42 þ j8:96) mS (A-1)

Y21 ¼ G21 þ jB21 ¼ (4:35
j196:64) mS (A-2)

Y12 ¼ G12 þ jB12 ¼ (
433:09
j1:5643) mS (A-3)

Y22 ¼ G22 þ jB22 ¼ (4:41 þ j9:10) mS (A-4)

The optimum values of feedback elements calculated from the given expression
of B1 and B2 are





B12 þ B21 G21
G12 G12 þ G21
B1 ¼
B11 þ þ þ G11 (A-5)
2 B21
B12 2
jB1 ¼ 89:8E
3 (A-6)

jB1 ¼ jvC1 (A-7)

89:8E
3
C1 ¼ ¼ 4:77 pF (A-8)
2pf



 B12 þ B21 (G12 þ G21 )(G21
G12 )
B2 ¼ þ (A-9)
2 2(B21
B12 )
jB2 ¼
103:5E
3 (A-10)
1
jB2 ¼ (A-11)
jvL2
1
L2 ¼ 0:515 nH (A-12)
(2pf )  103:5E
3

The optimum values of the real and imaginary part of the output admittance are


Yout ¼ ½Gout þ jBout  (A-13)
 A.1 PARALLEL RESONATOR OSCILLATOR 383

where Gout and Bout are given as


(G12 þ G21 )2 (B21
B12 )2
Gout ¼ G22
(A-14)
4G11
Gout ¼
823:53E
3 (A-15)




G21
G12 (G12 þ G21 ) B21 þ B12
Bout ¼ B22 þ
þ G22
Gout þ (A-16)
B21
B12 2 2
Bout ¼
105:63E
3 (A-17)
1
jBout ¼ (A-18)
jvL3
L3 ¼ 0:502 nH (A-19)

Figure A-2 shows the simulated response of the oscillator circuit with resonance
at 3120 MHz or a 5% error. The small variation in resonant frequency may be due to
the frequency-dependent packaged parameters, but it is a good starting value for
tuning and optimization for the best phase noise and output power. The best
phase noise at a given power output is basically dependent upon the ratio and
absolute value of the feedback capacitors, which in turn depend upon the
optimum drive level.

4.00

2.00 Negative current,

responsible for
negative resistance
Y1 (mA)

0.00

Reactive current,
responsible for
-2.00 resonance at the
zero crossing

-4.00
1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00
Freq (GHz)

Figure A-2 The real and imaginary currents for oscillation. The reactive current crosses the
zero line at 3120 MHz. This is close but not exactly at the point of most negative resistance
current. The shift of 120 MHz is due to the use of small-signal rather than large-signal
analysis.
384 DESIGN OF AN OSCILLATOR USING LARGE-SIGNAL S-PARAMETERS

A.2 SERIES FEEDBACK OSCILLATOR

The steady-state oscillation condition for the series feedback configuration can be
expressed as

Zout (I,v) þ ZL (v) ¼ 0 (A-20)

ZL (v)
! Z3 (v) (A-21)

where I is the load current amplitude and w is the resonance frequency. Zout is
current, and frequency-dependent output impedance, whereas ZL is only a function
of frequency.

Zout (I,v) ¼ Rout (I,v) þ jXout (I,v) (A-22)

ZL (v) ¼ RL (v) þ jXL (v) (A-23)

The expression of output impedance Zout can be written as

½Z12 þ Z2 ½Z21 þ Z2 
Zout ¼
Z3 ) ½Z22 þ Z2 
(A-24)
½Z11 þ Z1 þ Z2 

where Zij (i,j ¼ 1,2) are the Z-parameters of the hybrid transistor model and can be
written as

Zi, j ¼ ½Rij þ jXij i, j¼1,2 (A-25)

According to optimum criteria, the negative real part of the output impedance Zout
has to be maximized, and the possible optimal values of feedback reactance under
which the negative value Rout are maximized by setting

@Re½Zout  @Re½Zout 
¼0 and ¼0 (A-26)
@X1 @X2
@½Rout  @½Rout 
) ¼0 and ¼0 (A-27)
@X1 @X2

The optimal values X1 and X2 , based on the above condition, can be expressed in
terms of a two-port parameter of the active device (BJT/FET) as [177, 178]




X12 þ X21 R21
R12 R12 þ R21
X1 ¼
X11 þ þ
R11
R1 (A-28)
2 X21
X12 2



 X12 þ X21 (R21
R12 )(2R2 þ R12 þ R21 )
X2 ¼

(A-29)
2 2(X21
X12 )
 A.2 SERIES FEEDBACK OSCILLATOR 385

By substituting values of X1 and X2 into the above equation, the optimal real and

imaginary parts of the output impedance Zout can be expressed as


Zout ¼ Rout þ Xout

(A-30)


(2R2 þ R21 þ R12 )2 þ (X21
X12 )2
Rout ¼ R2 þ R22
(A-31)
4(R11 þ R2 þ R1 )


  R21
R12   
Xout ¼ X2 þ X22
Rout
R2
R22 (A-32)
X21
X12

where



X12 þ X21 (R21
R12 )(2R2 þ R12 þ R21 )
X2 ¼

(A-33)
2 2(X21
X12 )

Thus, in the steady-state operation mode of the oscillator, amplitude and phase
balance conditions can be written as

Rout þ RL ¼ 0 (A-34)

Xout þ XL ¼0 (A-35)

The output power of the oscillator can be expressed in terms of load current and
load impedance as

1
Pout ¼ I 2 Re½ZL  (A-36)
2

where I and V are the corresponding load current and voltage across the output.


Z11 þ Z1 þ Z2
I¼ V (A-37)
Z22 (Z11 þ Z1 þ Z2 )
Z21 (Z12 þ Z2 )

The expression of phase noise for the series feedback oscillator, following the
approach for the Colpitts oscillator, is


4qIc g2m (t)
jLjSSB ¼ 4KTRþ
v40 b2 C2ce (C2 þCbe
L1 C2 Cbe v20 )2 þg2m v20 (C2 þCbe
L1 C2 Cbe v20 )2


  
v20 1 1
 þ 1
2
4(Dv)2 Vcc 2 Q2L v0 L1
 2 #
(C2 þCbe
L1 C2 Cbe v20 )þCce
 (A-38)
Cce ½(C2 þCbe
L1 C2 Cbe v20 )
386 DESIGN OF AN OSCILLATOR USING LARGE-SIGNAL S-PARAMETERS

For large values of Ql,


4qIc g2m (t)
jLjSSB ¼ 4KTRþ 4 2 2
v0 b Cce (C2 þCbe
L1 C2 Cbe v20 )2 þg2m v20 (C2 þCbe
L1 C2 Cbe v20 )2

  
v20 1 (C2 þCbe
L1 C2 Cbe v20 )þCce
 2 v4 L2
(A-39)
4v2 Vcc 0 1 Cce (C2 þCbe
L1 C2 Cbe v20 )

The important information that can be derived from this calculation is that the
parasitics now dominate the design. The negative resistance which was proportional
to 1/v 2 is now 1/v 4. The rule of thumb is to use a large device for lower frequencies
and operate it at medium DC currents. In the millimeterwave area, this would be
fatal. The large device would have excessive parasitic elements such as inductors
and capacitors, and the optimum design would no longer be possible since the para-
sitics would be larger than the values required for optimum performance. These
parasitics are the major reason why at millimeterwave and wide tuning ranges the
phase noise is not as good as that provided by a narrowband Colpitts oscillator.
Example: A 3000 MHz oscillator is designed based on the above analytical series
feedback approach and is validated with the simulated results. Figure A-3 shows the
series feedback oscillator.
Large-signal Z-parameter measured data (Ic ¼ 20 mA, Vce ¼ 2 V) at 3000 MHz
are given as

Z11 ¼ R11 þ jX11 ¼ (22:96 þ j27:30)V (A-40)

Z21 ¼ R21 þ jX21 ¼ (140 þ j670)V (A-41)
Z12 ¼ R12 þ jX12 ¼ (2:72 þ j4:99)V (A-42)
Z22 ¼ R22 þ jX22 ¼ (46:04 þ j21:45)V (A-43)
V: 5 V

Cap
100 nH

+
-
Bias
lnd

100 pF
osc
Res lnd ptr
bFp520

Cap
e

Cap

54 12 nH
0.2 pF
Bip

22 pF P1
0.17 pF

Bias
b

+
Cap

16.9 nH

-
lnd

V:-2 V

Figure A-3 A series feedback oscillator. For the oscillation condition, base-to-ground
inductance and emitter-to-ground capacitance are required. The 12 nH inductor acts as a
choke. The output is tuned to and terminated at 50 V.
 A.2 SERIES FEEDBACK OSCILLATOR 387




X12 þ X21 R21
R12 R12 þ R21
X1 ¼
X11 þ þ
R11
R1 (A-44)
2 X21
X12 2
X1 ¼ 319:9654 V ) L1 ¼ 16:9 nH (A-45)



X12 þ X21 (R21
R12 )(2R2 þ R12 þ R21 )
X2 ¼

(A-46)
2 2(X21
X12 )
X2 ¼
311:67084 ) C2 ¼ 0:17 pF (A-47)


 R21
R12   
Xout ¼ X2 þ X22
Rout
R2
R22 (A-48)
X21
X12

Xout ¼
259:31176 ) C3 ¼ 0:2 pF (A-49)

The simulated response of the oscillator circuit, having resonance at 2980 MHz
or 1% error, is a good starting value for tuning and optimization for optimum phase
noise and output power. The best phase noise at a given power output is basically
dependent upon the ratio and absolute value of the feedback capacitor, which in
turn depend upon the optimum drive level. Detailed analysis for designing the
best phase noise, based on a unified approach, is presented in Appendix B.
Figure A-4 shows the real and imaginary currents under oscillating conditions for

4.00

2.00
Re

0.00
Y1 (mA)

-2.00

Im
-4.00

-6.00
0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00
Freq (GHz)

Figure A-4 Real and imaginary currents of the 3 GHz series-type oscillator. Note the very
shallow curve.
388 DESIGN OF AN OSCILLATOR USING LARGE-SIGNAL S-PARAMETERS

optimum output power. In this case, the operating Q is very low, as can be seen from
the shallow curve at which the imaginary current crosses the zero line, while the real
current is still negative. To optimize this circuit for phase noise, the imaginary curve
should go through the zero line at the point of steepest ascent while maintaining a
negative real current. The low-Q resonator guarantees that the maximum output
power is available and the resonator is heavily loaded.