MULTI-PHASE OSCILLATORS

Abstract

An oscillator circuit includes a first BAW oscillator, a first coupling stage, a second BAW oscillator, and a second coupling stage. The first BAW oscillator is configured to generate a first output signal at a frequency. The first coupling stage is coupled to the first BAW oscillator, and is configured to amplify the first output signal. The second BAW oscillator is coupled to the first coupling stage, and is configured to generate a second output signal at the frequency. The second output signal differs in phase from the first output signal. The second coupling stage is coupled to the first BAW oscillator and the second BAW oscillator, and is configured to amplify the second output signal and drive the first BAW oscillator.

Claims

1. An oscillator circuit, comprising: a first bulk acoustic wave (BAW) oscillator including a first output and a second output; a first coupling stage including: a first input coupled to the first output of the first BAW oscillator; a second input coupled to the second output of the first BAW oscillator; a first output; and a second output; a second BAW oscillator including: a first output coupled to the first output of the first coupling stage; and a second output coupled to the second output of the first coupling stage; and a second coupling stage including: a first input coupled to the second output of the second BAW oscillator; a second input coupled to the first output of the second BAW oscillator; a first output coupled to the first output of the first BAW oscillator; and a second output coupled to the second output of the first BAW oscillator.

2. The oscillator circuit of claim 1, further comprising: a third BAW oscillator coupled to the first output and the second output of the first coupling stage; and a third coupling stage including: a first input and a second input coupled to the third BAW oscillator; and a first output and a second output coupled to the second BAW oscillator.

3. The oscillator circuit of claim 1, further comprising: a phase detector including: a first input coupled to the first output or the second output of the first BAW oscillator; a second input coupled to the first output or the second output of the second BAW oscillator; and an output; and a low-pass filter including: an input coupled to the output of the phase detector; and an output coupled to the first BAW oscillator or the second BAW oscillator.

4. The oscillator circuit of claim 1, further comprising an edge combiner circuit coupled to the first output and the second output of the first BAW oscillator, and to the first output and the second output of the second BAW oscillator.

5. The oscillator circuit of claim 1, wherein the first BAW oscillator includes: a BAW resonator; a first inductor coupled to the BAW resonator; a second inductor inductively coupled to the first inductor, and including: a first terminal coupled to the first output of the first BAW oscillator; a second terminal coupled to the second output of the first BAW oscillator; and a center tap terminal.

6. The oscillator circuit of claim 5, wherein the second BAW oscillator includes: a BAW resonator; a first inductor coupled to the BAW resonator of the second BAW oscillator; a second inductor inductively coupled to the first inductor of the second BAW oscillator, and including: a first terminal coupled to the first output of the second BAW oscillator; a second terminal coupled to the second output of the second BAW oscillator; and a center tap terminal coupled to the center tap terminal of the first BAW oscillator.

7. The oscillator circuit of claim 6, further comprising: a quarter-wavelength transmission line coupled to the center tap terminal of the first BAW oscillator; and an amplifier coupled to the quarter-wavelength transmission line.

8. An oscillator circuit, comprising: a first bulk acoustic wave (BAW) oscillator configured to generate a first output signal having a frequency; a first coupling stage coupled to the first BAW oscillator, and configured to amplify the first output signal; a second BAW oscillator coupled to the first coupling stage, and configured to generate a second output signal having the frequency, the second output signal differing in phase from the first output signal; and a second coupling stage coupled to the first BAW oscillator and the second BAW oscillator, and configured to amplify the second output signal and drive the first BAW oscillator.

9. The oscillator circuit of claim 8, further comprising: a third BAW oscillator coupled to first coupling stage, and configured to generate a third output signal at the frequency, the third output signal differing in phase from the first output signal and the second output signal; and a third coupling stage coupled to the third BAW oscillator and the second BAW oscillator, and configured to amplify the third output signal and drive the second BAW oscillator.

10. The oscillator circuit of claim 8, further comprising: a phase detector coupled to the first BAW oscillator and the second BAW oscillator, and configured to: determine a difference in phase of the first output signal and the second output signal; and generate a phase difference signal representative of the difference in phase; and a low-pass filter coupled to the phase detector, and configured to: low-pass filter the phase difference signal; and provide a phase adjustment signal to the first BAW oscillator or the second BAW oscillator.

11. The oscillator circuit of claim 8, further comprising an edge combiner circuit coupled to the first BAW oscillator and the second BAW oscillator, and configured to generate an output signal having a frequency that is a product of the frequency of the first BAW oscillator and a number of BAW oscillators coupled to the edge combiner circuit.

12. The oscillator circuit of claim 8, wherein: the first BAW oscillator includes: a BAW resonator; a first inductor coupled to the BAW resonator; and a second inductor coupled to an output terminal of the first BAW oscillator, and comprising a center tap terminal.

13. The oscillator circuit of claim 12, wherein: the second BAW oscillator includes: a BAW resonator; a first inductor coupled to the BAW resonator of the second BAW oscillator; and a second inductor coupled to an output terminal of the first BAW oscillator, and comprising a center tap terminal coupled to the center tap terminal of the first BAW oscillator.

14. The oscillator circuit of claim 12, further comprising: a harmonic extraction circuit coupled to the first BAW oscillator and the second BAW oscillator, and configured to generate an output signal that is multiple of the frequency of the first output signal.

15. An oscillator circuit, comprising: a first bulk acoustic wave (BAW) oscillator configured to generate a first output signal having a frequency; a first coupling stage coupled to the first BAW oscillator, and configured to amplify the first output signal; a second BAW oscillator coupled to the first coupling stage, and configured to generate a second output signal having the frequency, the second output signal differing in phase from the first output signal; a second coupling stage coupled to the first BAW oscillator and the second BAW oscillator, and configured to amplify the second output signal and drive the first BAW oscillator; and combiner circuitry coupled to the first BAW oscillator and the second BAW oscillator, and configured to generate a third output signal having a frequency that is a multiple of the frequency of the first output signal.

16. The oscillator circuit of claim 15, wherein the combiner circuitry includes an edge combiner circuit configured to generate the third output signal based on edges of the first output signal and the second output signal.

17. The oscillator circuit of claim 15, wherein the first BAW oscillator includes: a BAW resonator; a first inductor coupled to the BAW resonator; a second inductor inductively coupled to the first inductor, and including: a first terminal coupled to a first output of the first BAW oscillator; a second terminal coupled to a second output of the first BAW oscillator; and a center tap terminal.

18. The oscillator circuit of claim 17, wherein the second BAW oscillator includes: a BAW resonator; a first inductor coupled to the BAW resonator of the second BAW oscillator; a second inductor inductively coupled to the first inductor of the second BAW oscillator, and including: a first terminal coupled to a first output of the second BAW oscillator; a second terminal coupled to a second output of the second BAW oscillator; and a center tap terminal; and the combiner circuitry includes a conductor that couples the center tap terminal of the first BAW oscillator to the center tap terminal of the second BAW oscillator.

19. The oscillator circuit of claim 18, further comprising: a harmonic extraction circuit coupled to the first BAW oscillator and the second BAW oscillator, and configured to generate an output signal that is multiple of the frequency of the first output signal.

20. The oscillator circuit of claim 15, further comprising: a phase detector coupled to the first BAW oscillator and the second BAW oscillator, and configured to: determine a difference in phase of the first output signal and the second output signal; and generate a phase difference signal representative of the difference in phase; and a low-pass filter coupled to the phase detector, and configured to: low-pass filter the phase difference signal; and provide a phase adjustment signal to the first BAW oscillator or the second BAW oscillator.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] FIG. 1A is a schematic level diagram of a bulk acoustic wave (BAW) oscillator;

[0006] FIG. 1B illustrates a symbol for the BAW oscillator of FIG. 1A.

[0007] FIG. 2A is schematic level diagram of a buffer circuit suitable for use with the BAW oscillator of FIG. 1B.

[0008] FIG. 2B shows a coupling stage that includes the buffer circuit of FIG. 1A.

[0009] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a quadrature oscillator that uses the BAW oscillator of FIG. 1A and the coupling stage of FIG. 2B.

[0010] FIG. 4 is a graph of the output of the quadrature oscillator of FIG. 3.

[0011] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a three-phase oscillator that uses the BAW oscillator of FIG. 1A and the coupling stage of FIG. 2B.

[0012] FIG. 6 is a graph of the output of the three-phase oscillator of FIG. 5.

[0013] FIG. 7 is block diagram of a frequency multiplication circuit that uses a multi-phase oscillator based on the BAW oscillator of FIG. 1A.

[0014] FIG. 8 is a schematic level diagram of a frequency multiplication circuit that uses a multi-phase BAW oscillator.

[0015] FIGS. 9-11 are block diagrams of harmonic extraction circuits suitable for use with the frequency multiplication circuit of FIG. 8.

[0016] FIG. 12 is block diagram of a multi-phase BAW oscillator that includes phase calibration.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] Multi-phase clock signals are used in a variety of applications. For example, multi-phase clock signals are used in data converters, radio frequency local oscillators, and other applications. Multi-phase clock signals may be combined to produce higher output clock frequencies. Multiple oscillators may be operated in combination to generate a multi-phase clock signal.

[0018] The multi-phase oscillators described herein combine multiple inductively coupled bulk acoustic wave (BAW) oscillators, and multiple coupling stages to generate multi-phase oscillator signals. The multi-phase oscillators have low root mean squared (RMS) jitter (e.g., as low as 21 femto-seconds (fs) per phase), low current consumption (e.g., as low as 10.7 milliamperes (mA)), and a high power-jitter figure of merit (FOM) (e.g., −262 decibels (dB)) relative to multi-phase inductor-capacitor oscillators. Power-jitter FOM is jitter*power consumption, where lower jitter or lower power leads to a better power-jitter FOM. The multi-phase BAW oscillators may be used with a frequency multiplication circuit to generate higher frequencies higher than the BAW oscillator output frequency.

[0019] FIG. 1A is a schematic level diagram of a bulk acoustic wave (BAW) oscillator 100. The BAW oscillator 100 includes a BAW resonator 102, an inductor 104, an inductor 106, a transistor 112, a transistor 114, a capacitor 116, a capacitor 118, a capacitor 120, a resistor 122, a resistor 124, a resistor 126, and a resistor 128. The BAW resonator 102 is coupled to the inductor 104. The inductor 106 is coupled to the transistor 112 and the transistor 114, and is magnetically coupled to the inductor 104 to form a transformer. The inductor 106 includes a center tap terminal 107 that is coupled to a power supply voltage in some implementations. A drain of the transistor 112 is coupled to a terminal 106A of the inductor 106 and to an output 110. A drain of the transistor 114 is coupled to a terminal 106B of the inductor 106 and to an output 108. The source of the transistor 112 is coupled to ground via the resistor 126, and the source of the transistor 114 is coupled to ground via the resistor 128. The gate of the transistor 112 is coupled to the terminal 106B of the inductor 106 via the capacitor 116, and the gate of the transistor 114 is coupled to the terminal 106A via the capacitor 118. In some implementations, the capacitor 116 is coupled to the capacitor 118 via the capacitor 120. The gate of the transistor 112 is coupled to a bias voltage terminal 125 via the resistor 122, and the gate of the transistor 114 is coupled to the bias voltage terminal 125 via the resistor 124. FIG. 1B shows a symbol used in this description to represent the BAW oscillator 100.

[0020] FIG. 2A is schematic level diagram of a buffer circuit 200 suitable for use with the BAW oscillator 100. The buffer circuit 200 includes a transistor 202 and a resistor 204. The source of the transistor 202 is coupled to ground via the resistor 204. The gate of the transistor 202 is coupled to an input terminal 206 and the drain of the transistor 202 is coupled to an output terminal 208.

[0021] FIG. 2B shows a coupling stage 210 that includes two instances of the buffer circuit 200. The coupling stage 210 includes an input 212, an output 216, an input 214, and an output 218. A first instance of the buffer circuit 200 is coupled between the input 212 and the output 216. A second instance of the buffer circuit 200 is coupled between the input 214 and the output 218.

[0022] In some implementations, a coupling stage can be as simple as a single element (a capacitor, a resistor, a transformer), a buffer, an attenuator, or a transconductance. When implemented using the buffer circuit 200, the coupling stage 210 is a transconductance stage.

[0023] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a quadrature oscillator 300 that uses the BAW oscillator 100 and the coupling stage 210. The quadrature oscillator 300 includes a BAW oscillator 302, a coupling stage 304, a BAW oscillator 306, and a coupling stage 308. The BAW oscillator 302 and the BAW oscillator 306 are instances of the BAW oscillator 100. The coupling stage 304 and the coupling stage 308 are instances of the coupling stage 210. The BAW oscillator 302 and the BAW oscillator 306 generate outputs having approximately the same frequency. The output 108 of the BAW oscillator 302 is coupled to the input 214 of the coupling stage 304, and the output 110 of the BAW oscillator 302 is coupled to the input 212 of the coupling stage 304. The output 218 of the coupling stage 304 is coupled to the output 108 of the BAW oscillator 306, and the output 216 of the coupling stage 304 is coupled to output 110 of the BAW oscillator 306. The input 212 of the coupling stage 308 is coupled to the output 108 of the coupling stage 304, and the input 214 of the coupling stage 308 is coupled to the output 110 of the BAW oscillator 306. The output 216 of the coupling stage 308 is coupled to the output 110 of the BAW oscillator 302, and the output 218 of the coupling stage 308 is coupled to the output 108 of the BAW oscillator 302. The coupling/injection factor (m) of the quadrature oscillator 300 may be about 0.5. The coupling/injection factor (m) represents the ratio of coupling current between the standalone oscillator current and the injection current from the coupled oscillators. The per phase RMS jitter of the quadrature oscillator 300 may be about 21 fs. The power consumption of the quadrature oscillator 300 may be about 10.7 mA at 1.35 volts. The power-jitter FOM of the quadrature oscillator 300 may be about −262 dB.

[0024] FIG. 4 is a graph of the output signal of the quadrature oscillator 300. FIG. 4 shows the output signals v.sub.1+ and v.sub.1− of the BAW oscillator 302, and the output signals v.sub.2+ and v.sub.2− of the BAW oscillator 306. The v.sub.2+ and v.sub.2− are shifted by 90° relative to the v.sub.1+ and v.sub.1−.

[0025] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a three-phase oscillator 500 that uses the BAW oscillator 100 and the coupling stage 210. The three-phase oscillator 500 includes a BAW oscillator 502, a coupling stage 504, a BAW oscillator 506, a coupling stage 508, a BAW oscillator 510, and a coupling stage 512. The BAW oscillator 502, the BAW oscillator 506, and the BAW oscillator 510 may be instances of the BAW oscillator 100. The coupling stage 504, the coupling stage 508, and the BAW oscillator 510 may be instances of the coupling stage 210. The BAW oscillator 502, the BAW oscillator 506, and the BAW oscillator 510 generate outputs having approximately the same frequency. The output 108 and the output 110 of the BAW oscillator 502 are respectively coupled to the input 214 and the input 212 of the coupling stage 504. The output 218 and the output 216 of the coupling stage 504 are respectively coupled to the output 108 and the output 110 of the BAW oscillator 506. The output 108 and the output 110 of the BAW oscillator 506 are respectively coupled to the input 214 and the input 212 of the coupling stage 508. The output 218 and the output 216 of the coupling stage 508 are respectively coupled to the output 108 and the output 110 of the BAW oscillator 510. The output 108 and the output 110 of the BAW oscillator 510 are respectively coupled to the input 212 and the input 214 of the coupling stage 512. The output 218 and the output 216 of the coupling stage 512 are respectively coupled to the output 108 and the output 110 of the BAW oscillator 502. The coupling/injection factor (m) of the three-phase oscillator 500 may be about 0.5. The per phase RMS jitter of the three-phase oscillator 500 may be about 28.5 fs. The power consumption of the three-phase oscillator 500 may be about 15 mA at 1.35 volts. The power-jitter FOM of the quadrature oscillator 300 may be about −258 dB.

[0026] Multi-phase oscillators similar to the quadrature oscillator 300 and the three-phase oscillator 500 may be constructed using more than three (e.g., 4, 5, 6, etc.) BAW oscillators and coupling stages arranged in a loop.

[0027] FIG. 6 is a graph of the output of the three-phase oscillator 500. FIG. 6 shows the output signals v.sub.1+ and v.sub.1− of the BAW oscillator 502, output signals v.sub.2+ and v.sub.2− of the BAW oscillator 506, and output signals v.sub.3+ and v.sub.3− of the BAW oscillator 510. The v.sub.2+ and v.sub.2− are shifted by 60° relative to the v.sub.1+ and v.sub.1−, and the v.sub.3+ and v.sub.3− are shifted by 120° relative to the v.sub.1+ and v.sub.1−.

[0028] FIG. 7 is block diagram of a frequency multiplication circuit 700 that that uses the BAW oscillator 100 and the coupling stage 210. The frequency multiplication circuit 700 includes multiple (N) BAW oscillators 702-1, 702-2, 702-3 and 702-N (each generically a BAW oscillator 702), and edge combiner circuit 704. Each BAW oscillator 702 may be an instance of the BAW oscillator 100. The frequency multiplication circuit 700 may also include multiple instances of the coupling stage 210, each instance of the coupling stage 210 coupled between two of the BAW oscillators 702 as shown in the quadrature oscillator 300 and the three-phase oscillator 500. Like the quadrature oscillator 300 and the three-phase oscillator 500, each of the BAW oscillators 702 generates an output having approximately the same frequency and a different phase. An output of each BAW oscillator 702 is coupled to an input of the edge combiner circuit 704.

[0029] The edge combiner circuit 704 includes circuitry that identifies the edges of each oscillator signal received from one of the BAW oscillators 702, generates a pulse at each identified edge, and combines the pulses to produce a high frequency oscillator signal. For example, the output signal of the edge combiner circuit 704 may be N times higher than the frequency of the output signal of the BAW oscillator 702-1.

[0030] FIG. 8 is a schematic level diagram of a frequency multiplication circuit 800 that uses a multi-phase BAW oscillator. The frequency multiplication circuit 800 is similar to the quadrature oscillator 300, and includes the BAW oscillator 302, the coupling stage 304, the BAW oscillator 306, and the coupling stage 308. In the frequency multiplication circuit 800, the center tap terminal 107 of the inductor 106 of the BAW oscillator 302 is coupled (e.g., by a conductor) to the center tap terminal 107 of the inductor 106 of the BAW oscillator 306, and to the output terminal 802. The frequency of the signal at the output terminal 802 is four times the frequency of the output signal (v.sub.1±) of the BAW oscillator 302 or the BAW oscillator 306.

[0031] FIGS. 9-11 are block diagrams of harmonic extraction circuits suitable for use with the frequency multiplication circuit 800. FIG. 9 shows a harmonic extraction circuit 900 that includes a quarter-wavelength transmission line 902, a quarter-wavelength transmission line 904, a capacitor 906, and an amplifier 908. The terminal 902A of the quarter-wavelength transmission line 902 is coupled to the input terminal 910. The terminal 902B of the quarter-wavelength transmission line 902 is coupled to the terminal 904A of the quarter-wavelength transmission line 904, and to the input 908B of the amplifier 908 via the capacitor 906. The terminal 904B of the quarter-wavelength transmission line 904 is coupled to V.sub.ss or V.sub.dd.

[0032] The quarter-wavelength transmission line 902 and the quarter-wavelength transmission line 904 are tuned for a selected frequency. For example, in the harmonic extraction circuit 900, the quarter-wavelength transmission line 902 and the quarter-wavelength transmission line 904 are tuned for a quarter-wavelength at 10 GHz. If output signal v1± of the frequency multiplication circuit 800 is 2.5 GHz, the frequency of the output signal at the output terminal 802 is 10 GHz. The 10 GHz signal is provided to the amplifier 908 via the capacitor 906. The amplifier 908 amplifies the 10 GHz signal and provides the amplified 10 GHz signal at the output 908A.

[0033] FIG. 10 shows a harmonic extraction circuit 1000 that includes a quarter-wavelength transmission line 1002, a capacitor 1004, a capacitor 1006, and an amplifier 1008. The amplifier 1008 is a transimpedance amplifier. A terminal 1002A of the quarter-wavelength transmission line 1002 is coupled to an input terminal 1010, and to an input 1008B of the amplifier 1008 via the capacitor 1006. The terminal 1002B of the quarter-wavelength transmission line 1002 is coupled to the capacitor 1004 and to V.sub.ss or V.sub.dd.

[0034] The quarter-wavelength transmission line 1002 is tuned for a selected frequency. For example, in the harmonic extraction circuit 1000, the quarter-wavelength transmission line 1002 is tuned for a quarter-wavelength at 10 GHz. If output signal v1± of the frequency multiplication circuit 800 is 2.5 GHz, the frequency of the output signal at the output terminal 802 is 10 GHz. The 10 GHz signal is provided to the amplifier 1008 via the capacitor 1006. The amplifier 1008 amplifies the 10 GHz signal and provides the amplified 10 GHz signal at the output 1008A.

[0035] FIG. 11 shows a harmonic extraction circuit 1100 that includes a quarter-wavelength transmission line 1102, a quarter-wavelength transmission line 1104, a capacitor 1106, and an amplifier 1108. A terminal 1102B of the quarter-wavelength transmission line 1102 is coupled to an input terminal 1110, and to a terminal 1104A of the quarter-wavelength transmission line 1104. The terminal 1104B of the quarter-wavelength transmission line 1104 is coupled to the capacitor 1106 and to V.sub.ss or V.sub.dd. The terminal 1102A of the quarter-wavelength transmission line 1102 is coupled to the input 1108B of the amplifier 1108.

[0036] The quarter-wavelength transmission line 1102 and the quarter-wavelength transmission line 1104 are tuned for a selected frequency. For example, in the harmonic extraction circuit 1100, the quarter-wavelength transmission line 1102 and the quarter-wavelength transmission line 1104 are tuned for a quarter-wavelength at 10 GHz. If output signal v1± of the frequency multiplication circuit 800 is 2.5 GHz, the frequency of the output signal at the output terminal 802 is 10 GHz. The output terminal 802 is coupled to the input terminal 1110. The 10 GHz signal is provided to the amplifier 1108 via the quarter-wavelength transmission line 1102. The amplifier 1108 amplifies the 10 GHz signal and provides the amplified 10 GHz signal at the output 1108A.

[0037] In the multi-phase BAW oscillators described herein, mismatch in the output frequency of the BAW oscillators and/or the delay of the coupling stages may produce phase error in the oscillator output signals. FIG. 12 is block diagram of a multi-phase BAW oscillator 1200 that includes phase calibration to reduce the phase error. The multi-phase BAW oscillator 1200 includes the quadrature oscillator 300, buffers 1202, a phase detector 1204, and a low-pass filter 1206 and/or a low-pass filter 1208. The BAW oscillator 302 and the BAW oscillator 306 may be voltage-controlled BAW oscillators or digitally-controlled BAW oscillators. The phase detector 1204 and the low-pass filter 1206 may be implemented as digital or analog circuits. The phase detector 1204 is coupled to the BAW oscillator 302 and the BAW oscillator 306 via the buffers 1202. The phase detector 1204 compares v1± to v2± to determine the difference in phase of the two signals. The low-pass filter 1206 and/or the low-pass filter 1208 low-pass filters an error signal (a phase difference signal representative of the difference in phase) generated by the phase detector 1204. The low-pass filtered error signal (a phase adjustment signal) is provided to the BAW oscillator 302 and/or the BAW oscillator 306 to adjust the phase of v1± and/or v2±(reduce the difference in phase). For example, the low-pass filtered timing error may control a viable capacitor in the BAW oscillator to adjust the phase of the BAW oscillator output signal.

[0038] In this description, the term “couple” or “couples” may cover connections, communications, or signal paths that enable a functional relationship consistent with this description. For example, if device A generates a signal to control device B to perform an action: (a) in a first example, device A is coupled to device B; or (b) in a second example, device A is coupled to device B through intervening component C if intervening component C does not substantially alter the functional relationship between device A and device B, such that device B is controlled by device A via the control signal generated by device A. Also, in this description, the recitation “based on” means “based at least in part on.” Therefore, if X is based on Y, then X may be a function of Y and any number of other factors.

[0039] Modifications are possible in the described embodiments, and other embodiments are possible, within the scope of the claims.