A Low-Integrated-Phase-Noise 27–30-GHz Injection-Locked Frequency Multiplier With an Ultra-Low-Power Frequency-Tracking Loop for mm-Wave-Band 5G Transceivers

An ultra-low-phase-noise injection-locked frequency multiplier (ILFM) for millimeter wave (mm-wave) fifth-generation transceivers is presented. Using an ultra-low-power frequency-tracking loop (FTL), the proposed ILFM is able to correct the frequency drifts of the quadrature voltage-controlled oscillator of the ILFM in a real-time fashion. Since the FTL is monitoring the averages of phase deviations rather than detecting or sampling the instantaneous values, it requires only 600 μW to continue to calibrate the ILFM that generates an mm-wave signal with an output frequency from 27 to 30 GHz. The proposed ILFM was fabricated in a 65-nm CMOS process. The 10-MHz phase noise of the 29.25-GHz output signal was -129.7 dBc/Hz, and its variations across temperatures and supply voltages were less than 2 dB. The integrated phase noise from 1 kHz to 100 MHz and the rms jitter were -39.1 dBc and 86 fs, respectively.