Abstract:
A fast and high-precision all-digital automatic calibration circuit that is highly suited for \Delta \Sigma fractional-N synthesizers is designed to achieve a constant ...Show MoreMetadata
Abstract:
A fast and high-precision all-digital automatic calibration circuit that is highly suited for \Delta \Sigma fractional-N synthesizers is designed to achieve a constant loop bandwidth and fast lock time over an octave tuning range. A high-speed frequency-to-digital converter (FDC) measures VCO frequency on-chip with a sub-f_{\rm REF} frequency resolution of f_{\rm REF}/k in a time period of k\cdot T_{\rm REF}. The on-chip detected VCO frequency is then used for calibrating the loop bandwidth and the VCO frequency. The loop bandwidth calibration circuit measures the VCO gain K_{\rm VCO} and uses it to precisely control the charge pump current, hence making the loop bandwidth constant. For the VCO frequency calibration, a minimum error code finding block significantly enhances the calibration accuracy by finding the truly closest code to the target frequency. Moreover, this method does not need to activate \Delta \Sigma modulator to achieve sub- f_{\rm REF} calibration resolution, which makes this technique much accurate and faster than the conventional ones. A 1.9–3.8 GHz \Delta \Sigma fractional-N synthesizer is implemented in 0.13 \mum CMOS, demonstrating that the loop bandwidth calibration is completed in 1.1–6.0 \mus with {\pm}2\hbox{\%} accuracy and the VCO frequency calibration is completed in 1.225–4.025 \mus, all across the entire octave tuning range.
Published in: IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits ( Volume: 47, Issue: 3, March 2012)